


The Good, the Bad and the Crispy

by TVseries_notes



Series: A Price Above Rubies [2]
Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Love, Multi, Pregnancy, family life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:13:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27495523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TVseries_notes/pseuds/TVseries_notes
Summary: The journey of the most wanted couple in the world continues! How will Raquel and Sergio settle in their new home in the Caribbean, waiting for their family to grow even more? Will Alicia Sierra, that is now living with them, cause troubles in the couple's beautiful family life? Or will she grow fonder of the Marquina-Murillo family instead?A story that starts a few weeks after the gang concluded the heist at the Bank of Spain and settled in their new locations, after Sergio's proposal and after Raquel’s pregnancy announcement.This is the part 2 of the series "A Price Above Rubies" and it is the sequel of "You Turned my Mysteries Upside Down". Of course, it's better if you read the part 1 before reading the new chapters, but it is not mandatory! You should be able to understand the story anyway.
Relationships: Raquel Murillo/Professor | Sergio Marquina
Series: A Price Above Rubies [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009170
Comments: 20
Kudos: 108





	1. The Measure of Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everybody!  
> Hope everyone is safe at home in this difficult times.  
> It's the second quarantine here in Italy and this is also my second story here on AO3! Difficult times inspire me to write more :)
> 
> Firstly I would like to thank every single person who commented on the part 1 of the series "A Price Above Rubies": if I'm here now is thanks to you and to all the kudos I received, so I thank you for your support.  
> I know some of you, in the comments at the end of the first part, expressed the desire of a sequel to "You Turned my Mysteries Upside Down" so... I worked on it and here it is!
> 
> I still don't know how many chapters I will publish - I'm still writing it - nor I know how frequently I will update. Certainly not one chapter per day as my first work - that was completed before publishing - but I will try to update once a week.  
> I hope the way I continued the story will live up to your expectations and I'm looking forward to know what you think of it!
> 
> Now, this is the first chapter. Enjoy it and let me know if you liked it! :)
> 
> Stay safe
> 
> Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Money Heist and the characters do not belong to me

* * *

_“Sometimes the measure of friendship isn't your ability to not harm_

_but your capacity to forgive the things done to you and ask forgiveness for your own mistakes.”_

_-Randy K. Milholland_

* * *

The room was still dark, just a dim light was brightening the white sheets of the bed. 

Raquel looked sleepily at the watch on her bedside table and saw it was 4.38 in the morning. She sighed and turned around, trying to catch some more sleep. Instead, she suddenly opened her eyes wide and jumped out of the bed, running towards the bathroom. She almost stumbled in Sergio’s t-shirt, t-shirt that she herself had taken off him just hours before. Anyway, the fact she was constantly horny was the good part. The bad one was that during the last couple of weeks she’d woken up almost every night to throw anything that was left of her dinner up. 

_“Fucking pregnancy”_ she mumbled to herself as soon as she finished to free her stomach from almost every liquid she’d had in her body. 

Not that she’d ever expected other or better symptoms, not at all. She could still remember very vividly that, while she was expecting Paula, she’d felt even worse than this time. The small consolation was that this sicknesses would last just a few weeks more. She would joust have to go through it and then enjoy the rest of her pregnancy.

She slowly stood up on her feet from the cold floor, she washed her hands and face and decided that she would be fine at least for a few hours more. Precisely until breakfast. 

Raquel, thinking about what Sergio was continuously saying to her - that was that she should keep herself hydrated - decided to head to the kitchen to drink some water before coming back to her bed. Anyway when she exited the bathroom and walked through the bedroom, she spotted a sleepy and worried Sergio glancing at her. 

Sergio’s hair was a mess, as a reminder of the passionate moments the couple had spent together before falling asleep, and he wasn’t wearing his glasses. 

Raquel could still remember what she’d said to him after the first night they had spent together, almost three years before. Sergio looked different without his glasses, just like Superman and Clark Kent. She smiled at the memory. She still believed in what she’d said back then, but the difference was that she was used to seeing him like this now. So normal, so… comfortable.

“What?” Sergio asked with a low voice, probably noticing her little smile “Are you fine?”

“Well, as usual. I just felt sick. I’m feeling better now” Raquel answered and approached the bed. 

She seated on the side, next to Sergio, and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. 

He naturally turned and kissed her properly, playing with her dark blonde hair with his fingers.

“I hate it” he whispered on her lips.

“Oh please, don’t tell me! I can’t wait the first trimester to be over” complained Raquel, half joking and half serious.

“I know, _cariño_. I’m sorry. You’ll probably hate me for what I’m about to say but, you know, you should…”

“…Drink some water. I know” she interrupted him and showed a big smile. It was really funny how much he cared about her and their baby.

“I was just walking towards the kitchen when I noticed you were awake and glancing at me with your concerned puppy eyes. I couldn’t help myself not to stop and kiss you” Raquel explained with a laugh.

“And you made the right choice, sweetheart” he teased “But now you should really get going and drink that water. I will be waiting for you to come back, right here”

“Whatever my handsome _Profesor_ wishes” she answered, mocking him, and exited the room headed to the kitchen. 

Raquel, without even bothering to turn on the light, opened the cupboard and picked up a glass. Trying to make as little noise as possible, she opened the tap and made the water run down into the sink, until it became fresh. 

“BUH!” 

Raquel jumped. The voice and a couple of long hands that quickly grabbed her hips had startled her. Fortunately she managed not to scream and wake the whole house up. She immediately turned to face the source of her fear.

“Fuck you, Alicia!” Raquel whispered between her teeth “You’ve fucking scared me to death!”

“And I’m glad. That was exactly what I wanted to do” Alicia grinned. She’d always liked to startle her friend back when they were at the Police Academy, Raquel had not forgotten that but she was not used to it anymore. 

Raquel looked at her friend to show her fake pout. 

The redhead was wearing her glasses and her long straight hair were loose and really messy. She was just wearing her underwear and a huge t-shirt, probably taken from her husband’s closet, that was a bit tight at the top of her big belly.

Raquel wasn’t used to see Alicia like this. She would normally wake up earlier than anyone, put on some makeup and comb her hair, tying them in a perfect ponytail. The redhead was always lookingelegant, like she was ready to go to a party, even during these last days that everybody knew she was about to give birth. 

“Murillo, stop staring at me. Now” Alicia broke the silence.

“I wasn’t staring” Raquel muttered, knowing she’d been caught in the act “And don’t call me Murillo. I’m just Raquel or Lisbon here”

“Well, _Raquel_ ” the redhead emphasized her name “Is there any ice cream in this refrigerator? I’m starving”

“Suit yourself” the blond woman answered and waved towards the fridge.

Alicia waddled across the room, towards the fridge, and opened the refrigerator. She had a brief fight with the frozen drawer and some lemon icicles, which she threw away with a disgusted and disappointed face. When she’d finally found the ice cream, a smile brightened her face and she grabbed a couple of spoons before sitting at the table. 

Raquel decided to seat in front of the other woman, with her miserable glass of water in her hands. Alicia, who had already attacked the poor ice cream, offered her one of the spoons she’d taken.

Raquel, sadly, shook her head.  “I’ve just finished to throw up anything I could still possibly have in my stomach” she explained.

“Your loss. This is _really_ good. I do not envy you” Alicia announced, eating an other spoon full of ice cream “Chocolate chips mint is not exactly my favorite, but I don’t mind”

“I can see that! And I know you’d prefer pistachio but chocolate chips mint is Sergio’s favorite flavor” Raquel laughed “So, why are you up at nearly five in the morning?”

“Isn’t that quite obvious?” the redhead answered, raising her eyes from the ice cream bowl and weighing a full spoon with her right hand.

Raquel nodded with a sigh. Her former friend had always had the bad habit of answering a question with an other question, a thing that Raquel had always hated about her, but also the thing that made he such a good negotiator. She was sure it was a defense mechanism, but she couldn’t really see why Alicia was avoiding to talk about her problems now. They’ve once been good friends. Things between them went quite smoothly lately. The redhead was living with them now, with her family, and they were just trying to help her and be polite.

“You know you can talk to me if you want, right?” Raquel finally asked “About your husband… or the baby… I don’t know. Whatever you would like to talk about”

“Yeah” Alicia sighed “Unfortunately, I know”

“And so…?” Raquel tried to suggest.

“I never said I was going to talk to you now. I’d rather enjoy this ice cream in peace” Alicia cut that conversation instantly, focusing on her ice cream again. 

Raquel shut up immediately. For how much she would have liked to fix their friendship, she didn’t want to force Alicia to talk. But neither she wanted to leave her alone with the ice cream, so she just decided to wait until the woman would have finished eating. Raquel watched Alicia silently for a few minutes but she immediately stood up when she saw the redhead moving a hand to her huge belly with a frown.

“Ouch. Fuck!” Alicia mumbled and closed the ice cream bowl.  “Raquel, don’t look at me like this. I’m fine! It’s just that he, or she, is restless lately. I’m starting to think that this baby believes my bladder is a punch bag” she added after seeing Raquel’s worried gaze on her. 

“Well, in that case, _I_ am putting the ice cream back in the refrigerator. You stay seated there until the baby is calmer and then you’ll go straight back to your room, in your bed!” Raquel ordered to her former friend, taking the bowl and putting it back in the refrigerator. 

“Stop talking to me like this, I’m not Pula and you are certainly not my mother” Alicia protested “You know, Raquel, if I’d known you were pregnant too during the heist, I would have tortured you more during my interrogations”

“Maybe you would have succeeded in making me talk that way” Raquel teased “But unfortunatelyneither I knew for sure I was expecting at the time, and certainly I wouldn’t have come to you to confess it and give you something to torture me with”

“Yeah, just saying”

“Now, to your bedroom. Immediately!” the blonde woman ordered again.

Anyway, Alicia didn’t want to move. She was now fed and comfortable, seating at the table. Raquel had really no idea how hard it was to have a moment of comfort and peace when you were almost due date. Or maybe she had, but she’d simply removed that feeling immediately after Paula’s birth.

“You asked me why I was here earlier” she started talking “Except for the fact that I was starving… I, I heard from my room that you were awake, so I wanted to… let’s say, _surprise_ you”

“Good job, Alicia. Congratulations. You won” Raquel retorted, sarcastic.

“I suppose this baby is really comfortable and happy to stay on my bladder, so I have to pee every ten minutes” the redhead continued, ignoring the blonde “Plus he likes to stay awake during the night and remains calm during the day. I hate that, I cannot sleep during the day. I have to be productive instead. Fuck! I can’t wait this pregnancy to be finally over”

“We just have to hope your baby’s habits will chance once he, or she, is out” Raquel laughed “Anyway, maybe I know a way to let the baby calm down. My mom used to do that when I was expecting Paula and I slept at her home because I didn’t want to go back to my home. Mainly when I saw that Alberto was angry at work or when I knew he’d been out drinking with his friends”

Alicia didn’t say a word and didn’t move an inch, so Raquel supposed she was giving her the permission to continue talking.

“It’s better if we move to the couch” she suggested and headed to the living room. 

Alicia slowly and reluctantly stood up from the chair and waddled towards the couch. Raquel made the other woman sit where the sofa had an angle, before sitting there too and positioning her body behind the redhead. Raquel patted between her legs, letting a perplexed Alicia know she had to settle there and relax her back on the blonde. 

“No way!” Alicia tried to protest. She really didn’t want to cuddle with Raquel. 

“Shut up, calm down and trust me for once”

The redhead seemed to ignore her, so Raquel reached Alicia’s shoulder and pulled her closer, trapping the cranky woman with her hands. 

“This is hardly fair! You caught me off guard and it’s not that I have the physical strength to resit and then kill you!” Alicia continued her whining.

Raquel decided not to answer back and kept Alicia in her lap. She turned the radio on and chose a channel that was airing classical music. Soon the redhead let go a sigh and her breath became slower in no time, sign she’d probably finally fallen asleep. Raquel, who knew her method would have worked, decided to slowly move from behind Alicia. She put a big pillow under her head and a light blanket on her body, before walking towards her own bedroom. She was exhausted too butsecretly happy that, for once, Alicia had let someone help her with something.

* * *

Half an hour had passed since when Raquel went to the kitchen. Maybe she wasn’t feeling well again? Maybe she’d fainted? Sergio was just thinking about going to look for her when she entered the bedroom. He sighed in relief.

“My God, Raquel, I thought you were dead”

“Sergio! Always so tragic!” she joked “I would have called you if I needed something. Except I was not the one having a hard time”

Sergio frowned and showed her an interrogative expression.

“Alicia was in the kitchen and she couldn’t sleep. I helped her find a comfortable position. She’sresting on the couch now” Raquel explained, climbing into the bed and kissing her man.

“Thank you. She’s already grumpy and unbearable when she sleeps well, I can’t imagine if tomorrow we would have dealt with having her around after so much lack of sleep. You saved us”  Sergio laughed and Raquel couldn’t agree more. Alicia was a lot of things, and ‘difficult temper’ was on top of the list of them. 

“Did you force her into a situation she couldn’t get out of for helping her sleep?” he then asked, curious.

“Oh you know us, Sergio. I practically forced her, and I won in the end. She’ll be very angry when she wakes up. Maybe we should catch some sleep before she does and wakes us up too knocking furiously at our door”

“If you put it that way… But know that I cannot wait to annoy you when you’ll start to show” the man confessed, earning an inquisitive look from his fiancée.

“Anyway, for now… good night, sweetheart” Sergio said with a smile and embraced Raquel, who gladly spooned in his arms.

“Good night Sergio” she answered and in a few seconds she was already asleep.


	2. Its Own Mark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning guys!
> 
> Here I am with the second chapter of this sequel!  
> I'm sorry if I kept you waiting a bit, but I'm incredibly busy with my studies these days.  
> Anyway, thank you soooo much to everyone who liked my story; it makes me very happy and makes my work way easier!
> 
> I hope you like this second chapter :)
> 
> Have a nice day and keep safe!

* * *

_“He didn’t realize that love as powerful_

_as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark.”_

_-J.K. Rowling_

* * *

“No, mum, that’s out of question!” Raquel finally announced.

Since she’d told her mother Marivì that Sergio had proposed to her, she was continuously hunted by the old woman around the house. That afternoon, Marivì was very lucid and happy, so she’d been looking for the color of the flowers for the wedding and apparently she liked the pink shades. The older woman had just finished showing her daughter a dozen of different pink shades that she liked. 

“Stop it” Raquel ordered her mother and, seeing she was about to complain she repeated for the hundredth time “I’ve told you that it will be blue or nothing for the flowers and decorations. I’ve already agreed on the beach ceremony, I think that’s enough!”

“Ok, _mija_ , I surrender. But if you’ll ever change your mind…”

“She won’t change her mind” Sergio interrupted his almost mother in law, bursting into the living room with a smile “Marivì, as if you don’t know your daughter” 

He’d guessed the two were talking about some wedding arrangements as always and he’d been proved right.  “Plus, we still have time. The marriage will be in more than a year for obvious reasons”

“I guess you’re right, my sweet Sergio” Marivì sadly admitted and then she whispered “What a bad temper she has. I still don’t know how you managed to to bear it for so long now. How long has it been now?”

Sergio grinned to the old woman, she was always saying that. And she didn’t care if Raquel was around and could hear her.

“Three years. And my answer is always the same: I love her and she bears my stubbornness too” the man answered, taking a seat next to his future wife on the couch and placing a light kiss on her forehead.

“On her good days she doesn’t do anything but talking about our engagement or wedding plannings. I can’t anymore! I tried to tell her I wanted a simple wedding but nothing…” Raquel whispered in his hear, quite exasperated. 

Sergio rapidly winked back at her, a sign that he will always be at her side even if that means disappointing his sweet mother in law.

“Now tell me, how are you two?” he then asked, stroking Raquel's still flat stomach with a hand.

“Everything’s good. And talking about children… where’s Paula?”

“She told me she would go in the woods on the back of the house. You know, she really likes it there. She finds and studies every new animal she encounters. She’s twelve and very curious; and you don’t have to worry because she now knows the place and she will be fine”

“Yeah, I know. And that’s only because she still didn’t have to run from the police in the woods and find a tree to climb” Raquel sighed at the memory that she was replaying in her mind.

“Unsuccessfully” Sergio added with a big smile, teasing her. 

“Whatever! I don’t feel like fighting you again around that topic is a good idea”

“Sweetheart you know I was just kidding, right?” he asked, wondering if maybe he’d gone too far. 

He still couldn’t tell what the pregnancy hormones were making her think or do and sometimes he was just scared he could hurt her. Her mood swings had been so frequent and drastic lately that he’d lost count of how many times she could yell at him for stupid things and then, a few seconds later, say she loved him. He was simply calculating every signal in order not to hurt her.

Fortunately, this time Raquel smiled and patted him on the knee. They both burst out laughing. 

Marivì, now perplexed, left the couch and headed to her room to rest.

They were still laughing when they heard a set of rapid footsteps approaching and a very well known voice screaming from the outside.

“ _Mamà_! _Mamà_!”

Raquel suddenly jumped on her feet and paced the room, reaching the door. Paula violently opened the door and ran towards her mother, panting and with a preoccupied expression on her face.

“Sergio! I know you asked me to keep an eye on her, but I was in the woods… I… I didn’t notice… I’m so sorry!” the little girl screamed, scared.

“Paula, calm down now” Raquel suggested, taking her daughter in her embrace and slowly caressing her hair “What happened?”

“It’s about auntie Alicia! You told me to watch her. But I couldn’t. I wasn’t there. I don’t think she’s ok!”

“Paulita, where is she?” the woman asked. She was starting to feel worried too.

“I am right here” Alicia calmly answered, slowly waddling on the three steps that led to the porch and the front door.

“Oh, thank God!” exclaimed an immensely relieved Raquel “Are you all right?”

“If you would call ‘all right’ contractions that are three minutes apart then yes, I am”

“Seriously? Why didn’t you told us earlier?!?”

“I didn’t think it was a big deal” Alicia calmly replied, sitting on the couch with a grimace.

“You didn’t think that was a big deal?” Raquel repeated, shocked “Fuck you, Alicia!”

“Mommy!” Paula protested and put her hands on her ears.

“Sorry for that, little monster. Forget you heard your mum swearing” Sergio, who was still shocked about what was happening, calmly said to the little girl  “This is our little secret. You know how mum gets furious when auntie Alicia goes around mocking her” he then whispered into her ear and she seemed pretty satisfied.

“Do not try to call me like that _ever again_!” the redhead, hearing the words _‘auntie Alicia’_ coming from Sergio’s mouth, threatened him raising her index in his direction and letting everybody know that she still wasn’t feeling so bad if she still had the energy to protest.

Raquel in the meantime thanked Sergio just looking at him.

“Well, Murillo, you know the situation now and my past _bad_ , as you would call it, behavior is forgotten” Alicia finally talked again.

“Don’t call me with my surname! You know I hate when you do it!” the blonde woman tried to protest.

“An other contraction is coming. I… couldn’t… care less… about what you hate! Ouch!”

Paula looked up to see Alicia’s grimace of pain. Then she turned to her mother, to Sergio and to Alicia again, frowning.

“I told you she’s not fine!” the little girl finally exclaimed.

“You know what?” Sergio asked her “I think you are right. We have to take her to the hospital. I will pack a bag with a change of clothes and be back in a minute. Paula, please, would you come with me and help me with it?”

Sergio immediately took the little girl’s hand and they both headed to Alicia’s bedroom. 

The redhead didn’t really like to think about Sergio messing with her closet, or worse, with her underwear drawer but she really didn’t have the desire nor the strength to protest right now. When the last contraction was finally over and she’d managed to catch her breath she turned to Raquel.

“Really?!?” she asked to the other woman and Raquel frowned at the question.

“What?”

“You know what!” Alicia exclaimed, furious “Did you and Sergio really ask your twelve years old daughter to watch me for all this time?”

“Well, yes. Of course!” Raquel admitted in defeat “I figured out you weren’t willing to accept help from us, so we made her do the work. Plus, you were cranky all the time, but with Paula you’ve always been more patient. She was the best candidate to take an eye on you and she happily agreed”

“ _Cranky_. We’ll see how cranky _you_ will be in a few months” Alicia protested “I hate you”

“I know you don’t. Is this your way to ask me if I could stay with you in the delivery room?” 

“What the f…” Alicia started to answer but then suddenly stopped, realization pervading her “How did you do that? How the heck did you know?”

“I’ve simply known you for a loooong time now, Alicia. I recognize when you are about to ask for help but you don’t want to show how fragile you are” the blonde smiled.

“I am _not_ fragile!” she contested “But will you? Come with me, I mean…”

“Of course I will! But you should ask me properly”

The redhead suddenly shifted her position to a more comfortable one, sign that an other contraction was about to hit.

“Ah, fuck!” she screamed “Please, Raquel… _please_! I cannot do… this alone! Ouch!”

Raquel’s face brightened up with a smile. Alicia had just confessed she needed someone’s help, and precisely _her_ help. She’d pleaded her. Raquel was feeling thrilled and happy and she knew that, deep down, her friend couldn’t wait to hold her baby too. 

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask me for weeks” Raquel confessed, earning from the redhead a look that could have killed her.

* * *

The trip to the hospital had been quick, thanks to Sergio and his skills in planning and controlling every single thing. Luckily the labour and delivery at the hospital had been rapid too, since Alicia was unsurprisingly already pretty much dilated when they arrived at the structure. For a brief moment the redhead had found herself thinking that maybe Raquel had been right in yelling at her because she didn’t say anything about the contractions in the first place. Anyway, that thought soon disappeared and Alicia would never express her gratitude to what she could now consider almost her friends. Never, _ever_.

Alicia was really tired and sweaty, feeling her baby girl’s weight on her chest while the latter was soundly crying. The redhead saw Raquel’s big smile next to her and pretended not to see that her eyes were shining with a tear. Alicia soon realized that her hand was still squeezing the woman’s hand. 

“Congratulation Mrs. Sierra! Can I now take your little…” the nurse started saying but then trailed off, realizing she still didn’t know the baby’s name.

“Nancy. Nancy Sierra” Alicia said. Apparently her voice was calm, plain and emotionless.

“Nancy” the nurse repeated with a smile “Can I take her? We just have to take her measures, I’ll bring her back to you in a second”

Alicia nodded slowly. She closed her eyes when she felt the nurse’s hands lifting the baby from her chest, at the same time also freeing the redhead from a big weight on her heart. She battled with her tears that were threatening to fall down. They weren’t tears of joy, but of loss and detachment instead and she didn’t want anyone to see them, especially not Raquel. 

When the nurse came back a little later with baby Nancy, announcing she was perfectly healthy and that she was 19.3 inches and weighted 7 lbs, Alicia made something really unexpected.

“Give her to my friend” she said to the nurse, that immediately stopped “She has the right to hold her too”

Raquel looked down at Alicia, pretty much shocked. Firstly she’d referred to her as _"her friend"_ and, secondly, she was letting her hold her little girl. She could remember the joy of holding your own baby for the first times when she’d had Paula. According to Raquel, there was something in new mothers that pushed them to continuously hold their child, she’d felt that twelve years before, so she couldn’t really understand Alicia’s gesture.  Anyway, Raquel decided not to protest and gently took the baby in her arms.

“Hi little Nancy” the blonde whispered and, exactly when she’d said the newborn’s name out loud, she realized something.  Raquel looked seriously at the woman in front of her. Her deep brown eyes where glistening.

“Did you think I wouldn’t realize that Nancy is a city in France?” Raquel asked her and the redhead laughed. 

The result of that laugh was a sharp pain in Alicia’s body and the woman found herself forced to show a grimace. 

“You really are crazy, Raquel Murillo. I just... _liked_ the name” she finally sighed and turned her head to avoid to look in the blonde’s eyes. 

Raquel rolled her eyes. Typical of Alicia: doing or saying something sweet and then denying it, avoiding every emotion.

Raquel looked down to the baby in her arms, that had now stopped crying. She was really small and perfect. She played with her bunch of red hair and caressed her pink cheek, before putting her down in her crib.

“If she’s hungry, just give her formula. I’m not going to let her use my boobs” Alicia announced with a sleepy voice, half joking and half serious.

Raquel rolled her eyes for the second time in two minutes and sighed when she saw that Alicia had probably fallen asleep. She paced the room, exited and closed the door behind her. 

Outside the room, she met her favorite couple of hazel, curious eyes that were patiently waiting for her.

“Nancy Sierra. It’s a perfectly healthy baby girl” she proudly said to Sergio.


	3. Before the Walls Shifted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> First of all thank you sooo much for all your comments and kudos, they mean the world to me.  
> Secondly, please don't hate me for this chapter! I felt emotional in writing it, and I hope you like it as much as I did!  
> Enjoy and let me know what you think!

* * *

_“I could stay, and search for what had been home, or I could go,_

_now, before the walls shifted and the way out was shut”_

_-Tara Westover_

* * *

Raquel was being held very tight by Sergio when she woke up with a loud baby’s cry in her ears. She suddenly opened her eyes and found herself completely wet with sweat. She really loved Sergio and his protectiveness towards her and their family but the nights were sometimes too humid and hot in the Caribbean to stay in his embrace the whole night. 

The woman slowly rolled on her back, freeing herself from her man’s embrace. She saw from the clock on her bedside table that was early morning. Probably Nancy was crying so desperately because she was hungry and Alicia was preparing her formula right now. Realizing she couldn’t get any more sleep at least for a while, Raquel stood up from the bed, stopped in the bathroom and then she decided to go and see if Alicia needed some help with the baby. 

Pacing the corridor Raquel realized the baby’s cry was coming from the redhead’s bedroom so she slowly knocked at her door.

No answer.

She knocked again, supposing Alicia couldn’t hear her between Nancy’s cries.

Still no answer, just the baby’s wailing that was becoming even stronger.

Raquel slowly but steadily opened the door and entered; in front of her, in the low light, she could see Nancy in her crib, crying desperately, but the double bed in the middle of the room was completely empty. There was no sign of Alicia at all. 

Raquel picked the baby up from her crib and cradled her slowly. Nancy’s cries became slower and the blonde heard some steps behind the door.

“Alicia, where were you?” she asked without even turning.

“Never been mistaken for Alicia Sierra before” answered a calm male voice behind her. Raquel could imagine Sergio grinning at his own joke.

“I heard the cries, then you woke up and came here. When I saw you weren’t coming back soon, I supposed something was wrong. Maybe you and Alicia needed help, so here I am. Do you need help?” Sergio explained “Talking about the Inspector, where is she?”

“This is a very good question” Raquel answered with a frown “Not here apparently. Can you go look for her, please? I think Nancy needs formula and a change of diaper. I’ll take care about the baby stuff but, please, go and find that bitch”

“Of course, _Inspectora_. I will be back with Alicia in a moment” Sergio announced, before turning and exiting the room. 

Raquel immediately changed the baby’s diaper and started to prepare her formula. Once she’d finished, she nursed Nancy who suddenly, although not surprisingly, calmed down and stopped crying.

“You really were hungry, little monster” she whispered.

“ _Mamà!_ ” 

“Paula, it’s early. Why are you already awake? Is everything ok?” Raquel asked, seeing that her little girl was standing by the door. 

“I woke up because Nancy was crying so loudly” the ten years old girl explained “I’m fine but… is she all right?”

“Of course, she was just very hungry”

“And where is auntie Alicia? She usually takes care of her”

“I don’t know, monkey” Raquel answered sadly “Maybe Nancy was crying too much and she freaked out. It can happen. She probably went for a walk. Sergio is looking for her now”

The two of them fell into an unexpected silence. Raquel continued to nurse the baby, sitting on Alicia’s bed and Paula was curiously observing the scene, silently.

“What I don’t get is… why didn’t she call me?” Raquel wondered “I could have helped her, she knows that”.

She didn’t realize that Paula had heard her. She’d involuntarily expressed her thoughts out loud.

“I think she’d asked for help, _mamà_ ” Paula whispered and showed a perfectly folded white piece of paper to Raquel. In the girl’s hand there was a beautiful swan shaped origami. On its left wing a little _‘to Paula’_ could be read. The calligraphy was thin and elegant, almost perfect.

“She left this to me on my bedside table. I was about to open it because I thought it was a gift from papa but then I realized… the paper is not red and… It’s auntie Alicia calligraphy, I’m sure”

“I cannot find her anywhere, Raquel. I also tried to call her but it goes straight to voice mail” Sergio announced, storming into the room again. 

He didn’t know Paula was awake and in the room. He also didn’t know that Alicia had left a note to the little girl. Sergio realized what was happening when he saw Raquel putting Nancy in the crib again and unfolding the swan origami in her hands.

“Let’s read it together” Raquel announced and Paula sat next to her on the bed to read.

_“My dear Paulita,_

_I know all this letter thing could seem really strange to you. For this, I’m sorry. I couldn’t say face to face what I am about to say here. Your mother would have immediately punched me in the face. Writing this down has always been the unique and only solution for me and writing it to you had been way easier. I could have written a letter to your mum but with you I always felt more comfortable. It could seem selfish from me but, please, try not to blame me. Of all the wonderful things I've learned spending these weeks with you and your family, the ability to forgive has been the greatest and the most beautiful one. I hope you can forgive me for this in the future._

_Now, straight to the point: I left._

_I left and I didn’t take Nancy with me, I know. I left her behind. She’s been the fruit of a love that died months ago, that died because of a terrible disease that took her dad away from me and, now, indirectly took me from her. I’m not in the right condition to raise her now, nor I’ll ever be. I had found myself in a very dark place after my husband died. I suddenly found myself incapable of understand what love was. Until I… let’s say,_ bumped _in your mother again one day in Madrid and asked her if I could live with you and your family._

_Paula, knowing you made me understand what love was again. It’s been wonderful spending time in our secret place together, chatting. All your questions made me crazy sometimes and I didn’t know how to deal with them, how to answer to them, so I stayed mostly silent all the time. But, hearing you talk, I could feel every day more loved. Even if I know I turned your perfect family life upside down with my unpleasant presence, my baby and my rude jokes, you showed me nothing but love. For this I have to thank you, my sweet Paula. I’m sure you will be a perfect cousin to my Nancy, almost like a sister. I can bet you will read her bedtime stories and love her._

_Now, to your mother… you have to ask her to take care of my baby. I know she is just one week old and that Raquel has her own son or daughter on the way, but she’s the strongest woman I’ve ever known. She could deal with this. I’ve never thanked her enough for having been such a tough rival for me back at the Police Academy. She’s been the reason why I became the stubborn woman I am now. And, of course, the best Inspector the Police had had in years. I perfectly know she will be the wonderful mother my daughter deserves, always pushing Nancy to work harder in her life. So, I have to thank her for this and for everything she’d taught me in the past._

_At last but not least, Sergio. I know he’s technically not your father but, trust me Paula, he’s way better than your biological father. I knew Alberto well and, even if I understand that you’ll always miss him a little, I suggest you to cherish what you have with your new dad. I know he’s always wondered if he was being a good paternal figure for you. I see every day how much scared he is about the baby that he and your mum are about to have. Even if he never says this out loud, he is terrified of not being good enough for you, for Raquel or for your sibling. Except_ he is _good enough. More than enough. I’m sure he will take care of Nancy as he always takes care of you. He will teach her everything he knows - that is a lot - and for it I’m extremely grateful._

_Hoping you could all forgive me for this and, mostly, that Nancy will have taken her father’s temper and not mine._

_Always yours,_

_Auntie Alicia”_

A couple of tears fell on the letter, ruining the perfect and elegant handwriting, before Raquel could fold the paper again and sadly give it to Sergio. 

“Don’t be sad, _mamà_ ” Paula tried to cheer her mother up, but she was showing sadness in her eyes too. 

It was incredible how such a young and little girl could be so strong and resilient. Raquel turned to face her and hugged her daughter tight.

“You read the letter. Alicia is gone” the woman whispered in Paula’s ear, recomposing herself a little. 

“I know mum, but maybe we are still in time. I think I know where she is. If we are lucky…”

“Your… secret place?” Sergio asked to Paula, with a mixture of surprise and perplexity, and the young girl nodded.

Who would have imagined that Paula had secretly met Alicia in some place in the island. The two were apparently more connected to each other than they’d ever showed. Sergio wondered why he didn’t know anything about this but decided to keep all his questions for later. Finding Alicia before she could disappear forever was more important now, and apparently she really loved Paula to leave her such a letter. Maybe she would visit their secret place once more before leaving the island for good. 

“Paula, where is your secret spot?” he finally asked. 

“I was observing a butterfly on the back of the house once and I saw auntie Alicia entering the woods. Mum, don’t be mad; you had told me to keep an eye on her so I followed her. She seemed to know where she was going, probably it wasn’t the first time” Paula started explaining “She’d walked for about twenty minutes and then I couldn’t see her anymore. There’s a hidden cave in the woods. It’s little but there’s enough space for two or three people so I joined her there. We talked a little and from that day on I often returned to that cave and sometimes auntie Alicia was there too”

“So you were not studying the animals that you found in the woods? You were simply seeing Alicia?” Raquel asked, shocked and a bit disappointed. 

She’d been happy about her daughter’s interest for new animals but that was apparently just an excuse to talk with the redhead. Raquel felt an unexpected wave of jealousy raising inside her but she managed to ignore it for the moment.

“ _I am_ observing the animals. I love collecting my ideas on my notebook and I do it in the cave. And I also talk to auntie Alicia in the cave. She seemed interested in my drawings and new discoveries”

“Ok Paula, what do you think if we go looking for Alicia starting from the cave? The sun has just raised, do you think you could show me the way?” Sergio proposed.

“Of course! Let’s go!” Paula exclaimed, almost excited for the new adventure, taking Sergio’s hand and pulling him towards the door. 

Raquel had just jumped on her feet and was about to follow them when Sergio stopped, raised a hand towards her and spoke. 

“Oh no, sweetheart. I know you will not like what I’m about to say but it’s better if you stay here. Take care of Nancy, maybe try to catch some more sleep. We will be back soon. Paula will be safe with me”

“Fair enough” Raquel whispered, surprisingly without protesting and placing a soft kiss on Sergio’s lips “I love you”

“Love you too. We will all be back before you even realize we were gone, I promise”

“You better find her, _profesor!_ "


	4. For Kids Are Innocent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I'm back!  
> Sorry if this new chapter took almost 2 weeks (I know you'd like more regular posts to follow the story better) but I'm in the middle of my winter exam session until the second half of January so I don't have much time to dedicate on writing. 
> 
> I hope this chapter will find you well and safe. 
> 
> Enjoy! :)

* * *

_“For kids are innocent and love justice_

_while most of us are evil and naturally prefer mercy”_

_-G. K. Chesterton_

* * *

Raquel spent the whole morning wondering if Sergio and Paula would find Alicia, if they would manage to convince her to come back home and, mostly, if they were all safe. 

She could not rest more as Sergio had suggested, that’s for sure. Not that she did not try, of course. She was already exhausted and it was just 7.00 in the morning, her mother was still sleeping and Nancy had finally fallen asleep too. She seemed to be the only one who was dwelling on her thoughts and turning in the bed.

After having waisted almost half an hour trying to go back to sleep Raquel finally got up, made her usual stop to the bathroom and headed to the kitchen. 

If she couldn’t sleep nor help Sergio and Paula, at least she could make herself useful and cook some breakfast for when her family would have returned home. 

That’s how she found herself making chocolate chip pancakes with raspberry jam, Paula’s favorite breakfast and the one she was only allowed to eat on special occasions.

* * *

Paula was almost running in the forest, nimbly jumping every tree root and quickly stooping to each low branch. She knew the road so well she could go there blindfolded and she would always find the way. 

The little girl slowed down just when she heard Sergio’s steps behind her fading away, sign he was having problems in following her so quickly. He was almost three times her stature and way less agile after all.

“Come on, Sergio! We have to get there as soon as possible!” she yelled, not wanting to loose him in the forest neither desiring to give auntie Alicia the time to run away from the island. 

“I know Paulita, but I’m too big for being as quick as you” he explained to the young girl.

“Oh, come on!” she protested “You easily managed all your difficult _professor problems_ , whatever they were, back in Madrid and you can’t walk a little quicker!”

Well, Paula knew her stepdad was a professor. The only thing she didn’t know was that he didn’t teach at the university and that he was actually _el Profesor_.

“I mainly managed the _professor problems_ form a chair or from a motorhome, not running” he said, lowering his voice so Paula couldn’t hear him properly.

“What did you say? Are you coming?” the girl asked confused.

“Nothing. I’m coming!” he shouted, find his glasses on his nose and accelerated until he reached her side again.

The road to Paula and Alicia’s secret place would have taken around twenty minutes walking, just as the young girl had explained earlier, but with their speed it just took them a little more than twelve minutes to reach the cave. 

The first thing that came to Paula’s mind was that the place was big, wonderful and quiet as always. She could just hear some birds tweeting, probably they had just woken up because of the low sun that had raised not long before. 

The second of her thoughts was that she’d never explored the forest in the early hours of the day and she wondered if there were different animals out there or just the same she’d already seen, drawn and studied during her previous exploration. A ray of sun, coming from behind the trees’ leafs brought her back to reality.

Third and last of her thoughts was that she should have talked to auntie Alicia alone: the redhead had left the letter to her, to Paula, after all, and she wasn’t sure Sergio’s presence in the cave would have been welcomed.

She gestured to Sergio to not make any noise and to kneel and then she whispered her plan in his ear.

“I have to go inside to convince her to come back” she started and when she saw he was already about to protest quickly added “I know the cave and I don’t know if she wants you there. Plus, you can hear anything we say from here”

Paula took his stepfather’s hand and placed him beside a strange root. 

“I was exactly here when I discovered someone was in the cave for the first time. I think there is something that amplifies the sounds here, but I don’t know…” she frowned, just as her mother was used to do when something was bothering her. Sergio forgot how similar they were sometimes.

“It’s called echo, Paula” the man whispered “If you talk somewhere and the struct…”

“Yes _papa_ , I’d love your lesson about _ethoes_ but not now” she interrupted him

“It’s _echoes_ , _cariño_ ” 

“Yeah, whatever. I’m going inside” she announced “You stay here and wait for us. You are allowed to move just if she runs - then follow her and catch her - or if you hear me calling my dad’s name from inside, that means I need you”

Paula placed a soft kiss on Sergio’s cheek and entered the cave, disappearing from his sight.

Never in his entire life Sergio Marquina, the man who robbed the Royal Mint _and_ the Bank of Spain in Madrid, the most clever and the most wanted man in Europe, the _Profesor_ , would have believed someone who would have told him he wold have been given orders by his twelve years old stepdaughter in the future. And never he would have believed if the same person told him he would also actually have followed that orders.

But that was exactly what he found himself doing, while he listened to what Paula was saying to Alicia without even bothering to understand the conversation. 

He’d always said that Paula was a really smart girl, her actions were only proving him right day by day, and he was really, immensely proud of her.

* * *

“Wha… Pa-Paula”

The little girl could see Alicia’s expression, her shocked face, even in the dark of the cave.

“Paula” she called again “What are you doing here it’s early, you are supposed to be sleeping”

“I _was_ sleeping, until _your_ daughter woke the whole family up desperately crying” Paula said in a cold, almost accusatory tone; then, she smiled, a smile so pure that only children could show it.

“Come back home… we need you” the little brunette whispered.

Alicia could feel the pureness and the pain in her voice and for a second she was moved, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t impose her presence in the house when nobody wanted there, she couldn’t impose her bad motherhood on the baby she’d birthed, she couldn’t force her terrible behavior to her child and the people that have taken care of them for weeks. She simply couldn’t come back, she could only run away, meanly and cowardly as she’d always been. 

“Oh, Paulita… this is not true unfortunately. I can’t come back” Alicia finally whispered and the girl immediately took some steps forward to get closer to the redhead. Then the little girl hugged Alicia and kept her still. 

The older woman was strong and knew that she could easily free herself from that hug but, surprisingly, she froze; she couldn’t move, she couldn’t think clearly. Alicia sighed and a couple oftears appeared on her cheeks. She thanked God, if there were one, that Paula couldn’t see her face in that moment.

Then Paula did something certainly unexpected: she released the hug, slapped Alicia on the shoulder and pushed her. The twelve years old was really mad and started crying desperately.

“You are a liar!” she screamed and pushed the redhead once more “An ungrateful liar! I’m telling you we need you, I need you, because we love you! How could you think we would be better off without you! How could you run away!” 

Alicia seemed paralyzed and let the girl push her and slap her. Maybe, deep down, she knew she deserved her fury. She was about to say something but she didn’t have the chance because Paula continued screaming.

“How could you! And how could you leave Nancy!” she repeated again “You have no right to run! My mum did that because she had to! She had to run because of that asshole of my father! But she didn’t leave me, she kept me with her and kept me safe! Even _I_ miss my real dad and he was mean with me and mom! But we’ve been good to you, we gave you everything! Don’t you think Nancy will miss you?!? I know she will! Because if I miss my dad and he was an asshole, she will even more!”

“Woah, Paula wait. Stop” Alicia took the little girl’s wrists in her hands and kept her still “You know about your dad?”

“Of course I know! I could hear him yell at mom, throwing dishes and I could hear her running to the bathroom and closing the door! Then him furiously kno…” she stopped and looked at Alicia in the eyes “But this isn’t about me! You have to come home. Nancy needs you to protect her just as mum did with me! We can help you but only _you_ are her mum!”

Alicia didn’t have the chance to reply because in that moment Sergio entered the cave running, taking the girl into his arms while she vented all her anger in an heartbreaking cry.

He looked up, clutching Paula and protecting her with his body as it was the last thing he would do in his life. Squeezing the little girl that was now fond of as he was her real father, the girl that seemed to be the only thing that ever mattered to him. In his watery eyes the redhead could see a Sergio that was silently imploring her to come home, for the wellbeing of everyone in that family. 

And that’s when Alicia couldn’t take it anymore. That was the moment when she realized she had no way out. She was a mother and a friend now, there were people who cared about her and she had to learn a lot, but she at least owed a try to the Marquina-Murillo family.


	5. The Burdens of Those He Loves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! Here I am with a new chapter!
> 
> Once again, I'm sorry if I kept you waiting but I hope this chapter is worth the waiting!  
> I really wished to write a chapter focused more on Paula, like I did in my other story, and I hope you like it!

* * *

_“He was a father._

_That’s what a father does._

_Eases the burdens of those he loves._

_Saves the ones he loves from painful last images_

_that might endure for a lifetime.”_

_–George Saunders_

* * *

“Hush, Paula… we don’t wanna wake your _mamà_ up, right?”

The little girl, completely soaked with rain, shook her head and put her hands on her mouth, smiling. She glanced up to Sergio, who had whispered the last few words was wet too. He smiled back and reached out his hand, waiting for a high five that the girl was more than happy to give him. 

“Good, now go to your room and take off these wet clothes. A hot shower will do, before you catch a cold. In the meanwhile, I will _gently_ wake up your mum and she’ll be there in a minute, I promise”

“You can get sick too, Sergio!” Paula protested with a whisper and he couldn’t agree more.

“Of course. I will shower too, don’t worry. Now go, go” he said gently, pushing the girl’s shoulder towards her room and Paula ran out of the living room without further protests.

He grabbed a blanket from the couch and quickly dried his hair, which was still dripping. 

Overall, the mission to go and rescue auntie Alicia hadn’t be so bad, except maybe for the unexpected rain that had surprised the three of them during their way back home. Except maybe for the fact that Alicia hadn’t talked for the whole journey back and she had immediately retired to her room. Except maybe for the revelation that Paula appeared to know everything about how Alberto had abused Raquel back in Madrid and had never said a word about it. Except maybe for the fact that the little girl had called him _papa_ , carelessly and without thinking about it, and Sergio hadn’t the slightest idea of what to do with that. 

Thinking about it, the mission didn’t go very smoothly either. But what could he expect? It wasn’t planned… and God knows how even planned things can go down in a second, let alone the unexpected.

Raquel realized she had fallen asleep on the couch only when she woke up at the sound of the incessant rain coming from outside, announcing the rainy season in all its power. 

She opened her eyes to found a completely soaked Sergio looking down at her, probably immersed in his own thoughts.

Reality hit her immediately after, giving her the energy to jump up from the couch and open her mouth to talk, before Sergio could luckily catch her and put her back on the sofa with a concerned expression in his eyes. 

“I’m fine, I’m just dizzy” Raquel muttered before he could even say a word.

“I get it, believe me. It’s been a crazy day already and it’s just 9 am” Sergio immediately reassured her before adding “But you stay here five minutes because a trip to the hospital is the last thing I need nor want right now”

Raquel unexpectedly nodded without putting out a fight. She then glanced up to ask what she was eager to know immediately.

“How… Where…?”

“Everything is fine, Raquel” he interrupted her “They are just showering. We’ve just been surprised by the rainy season while coming back here, it’s no big deal but I immediately sent Paula in the shower before she could catch a cold”

“Oh” Raquel whispered at a loss of words “You should go shower too, you know? Or _you_ are going to be the one catching a cold”

“You know what? That’s what she said”

“Who?”

“Paula” he affirmed “When I sent her in her room… Well, not exactly the same words but… well the main concept was the same. And the argumentations were pretty similar”

Raquel smiled, clearly proud of her daughter’s negotiator skills.

“She learned from the best, Sergio” she teased and Sergio sat on the couch next to her, chucking.

“And… Alicia?”

“She came back in the end” Sergio reassured.

Raquel refrained herself from standing up again, pacing the room to Alicia’s bedroom and punch her. Hard. Very hard. Anyway, she sighed and rubbed her temples, shifting her gaze to the door, so Sergio read her thoughts immediately. He sat down beside Raquel and squeezed her shoulder affectionately, while the woman rested her head on his chest, exhausted.

“Alicia is in a pretty bad place right know… you understand this, right?”

Raquel could hear Sergio’s low reassuring voice coming out directly from his ribcage and she slowly nodded at his question.

“She needs all the support she can get from us now. What she doesn’t kneed is us screaming at her or blaming her for what she tried to do. She doesn’t need you slapping her like you did with Tokyo, even though she really deserves it and we couldn’t agree more on this”

He waited a second and, when he heard a slow “uh-uhm” coming from Raquel, he continued talking for a bit. 

A little later Raquel felt completely refreshed and no more lightheaded, so she finally let go of Sergio and stood up.

“I will go check on Paula. You go and take a damn shower, man. I want to eat the breakfast I lovingly prepared. And soon, ‘cause we’re hungry here” she announced pointing a finger on his chest with a hand, rubbing her belly with the other and smiling.

“Yes Ma’am” he straightened up “Promise me you will not go and punch Alicia?” 

“I promise” Raquel announced before standing up and entering Paula’s room without even knocking.

* * *

Raquel dedicated some time to her daughter after breakfast. She could tell the girl was tired but, at the same time, very excited about what she repeatedly called ‘the success of my first mission’. 

Paula narrated every detail of their rescue mission, especially not without giggling during the part where Sergio was too slow to follow her in the forest. The man, who was doing the dishes while the little girl was narrating, soon realized that Paula hadn’t talked about how she’d managed to convince Alicia in the end: she’d skipped the part where she confessed of knowing about her mean father or where she cried because of it. 

Sergio realized he needed some time alone so, as soon as he finished doing the dishes, he pecked the two girls on their heads and announced he was going to have a nap. 

Raquel knew better than believing him, he never took naps indeed, but she let him go anyway, giving him some well deserved time for himself and space.

Sergio reached his study in a second. 

He was going crazy: he didn’t know what to do. He knew it was his and Raquel’s agreement to never lie to each other again, but he also knew that Paula was keeping a secret and he wasn’t sure he should reveal it for her. For the first time in his life, Sergio found himself desiring to not know something. He wished he never heard Paula saying those words to Alicia or better, he wished that some little girl had never experienced such terrible things at all. Sergio wished for a moment he could avoid thinking abut that, but he simply couldn’t.

_“Of course I know! I could hear him yell at mom, throwing dishes and I could hear her running to the bathroom and closing the door!”_

Every time he thought about these words his heart shattered a little more. He felt bad. Bad because Paula knew; bad because he’d never noticed her knowing; bad because he was keeping it from Raquel and this broke their rules, even though he knew it wouldn’t be healthy for her to know right now. 

And then there was that _papa_ thing… It was just too much, how could he take all of that by himself? How could he be a good stepfather, a good _papa_ , if he couldn’t even protect his daughter? Yes, his daughter, their daughter. She needed protection and support and only him or Raquel could do that for her. 

Surprisingly, all of a sudden Sergio knew what he should do. 

* * *

Later that night Raquel fell asleep pretty quickly on the couch while watching a movie. Paula was yawning too so he decided to suggest they’d go to bed. He didn’t have to insist much, meaning that the girl had had a pretty stressful day and wasn’t in the mood for fighting. 

He got up, careful to slip from Raquel’s embrace without waking her, and then took Paula’s hand, leading her to her bedroom. The whole house was quiet, Alicia still locked in her room and Marivì already asleep, when Sergio closed the door behind him and Paula, leaving it ajar so Raquel could see a little light coming out from it if she woke up.

He sat on the girl’s bed, waiting for her while she brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas.

“I know you heard what I said this morning” Paula said finally, a hint of sadness in her voice.

“Talking about that” Sergio interrupted her, feeling suddenly uncomfortable “That was a really good spot for observing the echo phenomenon. You see, the word echo comes from the ancient greek, it comes from _οἶκος_ that means ‘home’…”

“Sergio” she interrupted him, brows furrowed just as her mother “You are avoiding the problem”

And that was it. He was being scolded by a ten - well, almost eleven - years old girl. Great. 

“Uhm… I… I guess I am”

“It’s not your fault" Paula declared "And it’s certainly not mommy’s fault. I know this, grandma told me that _mamà_ had always loved me and always will, no matter what”

“That’s right Paulita” Sergio admitted, fixing his glasses on his nose. When the girl didn’t say another word about the topic, he collected all his courage and opened his arms to take her in his embrace. Paula gladly accepted the invitation.

“And it’s not your fault either. The only one to blame for it is Alberto… I mean, your dad” Sergio reassured her not without a hint of self-doubt in his words.

“Listen, everything your mum did, she did it for you. You are still young and innocent and I’m so sorry you had to live all this. One day _mamà_ will explain to you everything, every choice she made, and you will love her even more than you realize now. This, I’m sure”

Sergio could feel Paula struggle to slow her breath. He saw a tear stream down her cheek and immediately dried it with his thumb.

“Sergio, I can’t tease you with asking if you’ll marry my mom this time, because I now know you are really going to get married” the little girl chuckled sadly “But I can say that you were wrong before. My dad is not to blame for this”

“ _Bueno_ …” he tried to interrupt her, but the little girl seemed not to be in the mood for being interrupted.

“Because he’s not my dad, not anymore. _You_ are my dad, Sergio. You are my _papa_ now because you love me and mum and grandma”

Sergio froze in that position. For a second he even forgot how to breathe. So he had not misheard the word _papa_ that morning and surely that had not been a mistake as he’d imagined. He didn’t know how he was supposed to react to that.

“That is, of course, if you want. Do you want to be my dad?” Paula asked, noticing that he was still silent.

“Oh, Paulita…” he whispered tightening the embrace “I would be honored to be your dad”

Sergio squeezed the little girl a bit more, before letting her go in order to reach the light on the nightstand and turn it off so Paula could finally fall asleep.

A too loud sob escaped from Raquel, now sitting on the floor outside Paula’s bedroom door. For a second, she wished Sergio had closed the door properly so, waking up, she wouldn’t have felt the urge to go there and overhear their heartbreaking conversation, when she’d expected him to read her daughter’s bedtime story instead. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And sooo... this is it.
> 
> I wanted to leave you with a little cliffhanger before Christmas and for this, yes, I deserve your hatred hahah!  
> I wish you a Merry Christmas and happy holidays, with the promise that I will try to post the next chapter before the New Year.
> 
> All the best and stay safe! <3


	6. A Spare Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> I'm back with a new chapter as soon as I could, as I promised!  
> I hope you had a good and safe Christmas, that you ate a lot and stayed with your families when possible!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who left comment or kudos to the previous chapters, they are really appreciated. Please continue to let me know what you think.
> 
> Now, before diving into this chapter, I'd like to precise that I didn't feel right pressing the Alberto topic directly with little Paula soooo... I did the best I could. I hope you like it anyway and I promise that the next chapters will be more about our characters' journey as a family!
> 
> Enjoy your reading and comment to discuss what you think of it! :)

* * *

_“Sometimes I think,_

_I need a spare heart to feel_

_all the things I feel.”_

_-_ _Sanober Khan_

* * *

Sergio exited Paula’s room soon after she’d fallen asleep, silently and decided to move Raquel from the couch and take her to bed. He closed the door behind him with a soft click and sighed. It took him a couple of seconds to notice a figure curled on the floor next to Paula’s room. Sergio immediately recognized Raquel, her face covered by her hands, but clearly wet with tears. Shocked and confused, he immediately crouched down and took his fiancée in his strong arms. Raquel let her face rest on his chest, still evidently sobbing. 

It was in that moment that Sergio realized what happened: Raquel had heard everything.

“Oh, _mierda!_ ” he exclaimed, desperate “Raquel I… I am so, so sorry”

He thought that his words could calm her a little, but he was clearly wrong since he felt his t-shirt become more wet a second later and since he could feel that the woman wouldn’t stop trembling between his arms. He really, _really_ , didn’t know what to do or what to say this time to ease that horrible situation they found themself in. 

" _Cariño_ , look at me” he whispered, putting two fingers gently under her chin and moving her head upwards “I… I hadn’t the slightest idea, I swear, until… until this morning. I’m sorry, baby”

Sergio could see tears come out from Raquel’s eyes, their trail on her cheeks evidently still present. From the wet look she gave him, Sergio could tell she wasn’t mad at him for keeping the secret and that gave him a little courage to try and cheer her up.

“Now, come here _cariño_ … We can go to bed and… and we can talk if you want” he sheepishly tried to propose “The floor is not very comfortable, maybe our bed…”

“Comfortable?!? Sergio! She knows!” Raquel immediately interrupted him, her voice rising.

The man looked around, up and down the corridor, wishing no one in the house had heard that.

“Ssh… You’ll wake your mum or Alicia or, worse, Paula” he whispered kneeling next to her and taking her hands in his. 

“Oh my God! She knows!” Raquel exclaimed again, still too loudly, and Sergio closed his eyes and sighed with a mixture of sadness and resignation.

“Who knows what?” a soothing voice asked from the other end of the corridor, apparently annoyed. 

Sergio didn’t have to look up to know who had woken up and spoken, but he raised his gaze anyway, as it was a reflex, and Raquel did the exact same.

Alicia immediately understood, just seeing Sergio’s look of desperation and Raquel’s tears and having directly witnessed to Paula’s confession just that same morning. 

“Well, fuck!” she muttered to herself; she paced the corridor to reach the couple and then held out her hand in the man’s direction.

“Sergio, give me your phone” Alicia ordered, but the Sergio didn’t seem to move “Come on, give me your damn phone, Sergio!” 

“But… You’re not supposed to…” he tried to protest before the redhead could interrupt him.

“I know I can’t have a phone! Thank you very much for reminding me. I swear I will not call the police, not right now anyway. Do you trust me?” Alicia grinned.

“No, but…”

“But I’m your only option right now. Look at her! She’s shattered! I’m telling you I know what to do, now… Give. Me. Your. Phone”

“I’m not in the mood to deal with your... your _Alicianess_! Here it is and you better help me, _seriously_ ” he announced, desperately handing his device to the redhead.

“Good” she said and started to type on the phone, looking for something. Sergio observed her silently for a second but soon the whole room was filled with a song and Alicia was pulling Raquel from the floor and leading her to the living room.

Sergio followed them, thinking that he didn’t know which song was being played but feeling like he should recognize the singer's voice for some reason. 

_The way you see me walking on_

_That's why I'm telling you in song_

_There's only one way to get ahead_

_You've got to give it up instead_

_Start all over again_

Sergio followed the two women to the living room and silently sat on the couch, watching Alicia who started to swing her hips around the room without letting go of Raquel. The latter began to move soon after, almost automatically.

_You see me standing on the bridge_

_I see the sunset in my view_

_The field looks colorful to me_

_I know there's more than I can see_

_We can start all over again_

Raquel immediately opened her mouth to sing the last line in a whisper and smiled, then she dried her eyes with the back of a hand but she didn’t stop dancing. Alicia smiled back and looked at Sergio noticing - and apparently ignoring - his confusion.

_Made it through the winter time_

_Made it through the spring_

_Made it through the summer_

_And the fall_

_That's why I'm giving you the time_

_You always wanted your own mind_

_The way is up to you and me_

_And there's horizons yet to see_

“Staaart all over again! Start all over again” Alicia and Raquel sang together, ending the song; looking directly into each other’s eyes they clapped their hands to the rhythm of the song. In that moment Sergio recognized the voice of the singer: it was Van Morrison, one of Raquel's favorite artists.

Saying that the man looked shocked and stunned would have been an understatement. He didn’t even notice the song had stopped and the same did the two women, who were now hugging. Sergio was frozen in his seated position on the couch and couldn’t believe that Alicia of all the people knew how to cheer Raquel up so well. He felt a wave of gratefulness and jealousy mixed together making its way into his chest.

“Oh, _Profesor_ , don’t feel bad!” Alicia suggested, looking at his lost gaze “You wouldn’t have known. That’s like our thing, a best friends thing”

“Ex best friends thing” Raquel immediately corrected the redhead and sat on the sofa next to Sergio, cuddling into the crook of his neck. The blonde was trying to appear stubborn as usual but, deep down, she knew Alicia had just saved her once again, just like she’d done all those years back when she broke up with her first serious boyfriend at the Police Academy.

“You are so ungrateful, miss Raquel Murillo Fuentes!” Alicia faked indignation, but her grin betrayed her.

“Thank you, Alicia Maria Sierra” Raquel smiled back to the redhead who, hearing her middle name, decided it was time to wish everybody a good night and go back to bed before her daughter would wake her up again. 

* * *

Upon specific request of Raquel, the topic ‘Paula knows’ hadn’t been debated anymore by anybody. 

Raquel knew it wasn’t her fault and she recognized that her reaction that night had been more a crisis caused by her PTSD and triggered by the mentioning of Alberto rather than sadness caused by the fact that Paula knew about what had happened. 

She decided not to talk about it with Paula because she was a smart little girl and knew she could ask Sergio for help or come to her mother voluntarily when she felt ready to do so; there was simply no point in pressuring her about it. 

What had become a highly debated topic lately, on the other hand, was Raquel’s upcoming eighteen weeks scan, that actually happened to be today. 

In the last few weeks it had become impossible for Raquel to deny to herself that her body was changing: a natural and not surprising evidence that she was growing a life inside her. She was feeling giddy about it, she didn’t know if she was happy or frustrated about the changes in her body. Truth be told, it was probably that her hormones were going so crazy that she changed her mind every two minutes for real.

Right now, looking at her reflection into the mirror and trying on the third pair of trousers that didn’t close anymore, Raquel felt surely frustrated. And swollen. And angry.

“ _Cariño_? Are you ready?” Sergio’s voice came from outside their room.

“Doctor Smith will be here any moment” he said opening their bedroom’s door and, when he saw the scene in front of him, he smiled “You know there’s no way those are gonna close, Raquel”

He said that words affectionately but Raquel glanced at him with an aggressive look anyway. Sergio, that was now used to his fiancée’s mood swings, didn’t make a big deal of it. 

“Ok. We are angry, aren’t we?” he asked and when Raquel slowly nodded he added “And why are we angry?”

“Because…” Raquel started, still trying to close the button of her trousers “As you wisely pointed out… Even the last three pair of large pants that used to fit me until yesterday won’t close anymore! Shit! I feel like I exploded in just one night and… aaarg fuck!”

Sergio stepped inside the bedroom to place his strong body behind his future wife. 

“So we are very angry, I get it” he smiled, his hands trailing down her hips.

“Stop mocking me! You know I can see your face in the mirror, right?” Raquel tried to scold him but this just made his smile grow bigger. 

She sighed, resigned.

“Raquel, can I ask you something?” he prompted and, when Raquel looked into his eyes through the mirror without talking, he continued “Why would you even try to close them? The doctor just called me and said she will be here in five minutes. You will eventually need to unzip them again in a few minutes”

Raquel stayed still for a second, then frowned.  She hated to admit when Sergio was right, but he was now. She eventually gave up her task without further protests and walked to the bed, picking her t-shirt up and putting it on. 

“I wish you didn’t do that” Sergio confessed, looking at his girl getting dressed, and she grinned.

“Yeah, me too. But we have an appointment” she patted on her now evident belly and Sergio imitated her gesture to greet their baby.

“So... last minutes to change our minds. Do we still wanna know the gender?” he asked. 

It was a good question. They had discussed that for so long and Raquel had changed her mind so many times lately that she couldn’t even remember what their ultimate decision had been. They had continuously jumped from their desire of it to be a surprise for both, to Sergio’s need to plan everything - names included - and Raquel’s pathological curiosity.

At the end the plannings and the curiosity won over the surprise effect, but Raquel was not entirely sure; what difference did it make anyway? It wasn’t like they would paint the nursery all pink or blue according to the baby’s gender anyway…

Her trail of thoughts had been stopped by the doorbell ringing.

“Sergio, wait!” she said before he could exit their bedroom and go open the door “I think I have an idea”

He immediately stopped and looked at her with a serious gaze “ _Bueno_ … go on, tell me”.

Raquel felt a wave of love inside her and smiled; how much Sergio cared about her opinion and always listened to her still overwhelmed her, even after more than three years together.

“Why don’t you and Paula ask the doctor for the gender and keep it from me as a surprise?” she finally proposed.

“Are you sure?” Sergio asked. He thought it was a great idea but feared she could change her mind at any moment.

“Positive. So you can paint the nursery with Paula and start thinking about names together. She will be really happy to help you with all the preparations”

“But... but I wanted to decide the name with you, _cariño._ I don’t really like the idea of imposing myself over something so serious like our child’s name” he protested but Raquel seemed immovable.

“It’s not like I will call our baby with a name that I don’t like for the rest of my life, Sergio. But I would happily hear your preferences first and I will be very glad if you spared me the biggest part of the work”

“Well, this is new” Sergio smiled at Raquel’s sudden laziness and came closer to his girl, quickly kissing her and whispering a low “Thank you”.

When the doorbell rang again, Sergio ran out of the room immediately with a laugh. Excited to discover their baby’s gender, he kindly greeted doctor Smith at the door and let her in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: 
> 
> If you are wondering on which song Raquel and Alicia dance together, it is "Start All Over Again" by Van Morrison!


	7. To Be Surprised

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> I know it's been a few days already but... Happy new year! I hope this 2021 will be better than the past year for everybody.
> 
> Here I am with the 7th chapter of this story.  
> Thank you to everybody who spent some minutes in reading TGTBTC and left kudos or comments! 
> 
> I hope I'm not boring you with the story, soooo... please let me know if that's the case and tell me what you'd like to read about. It really helps my writing. I'm really sorry for that and also for posting a new chapter every 10 days more or less but my university keeps me incredibly busy.
> 
> This chapter has a little plot twist inside and I'd like you to know that I already have the gender in mind but you'll not discover it immediately, but probably just when Raquel discovers it - there's the possibility that I still don't know when here :)
> 
> Anyway, I hope you'll like this new chapter and that you'll think about leaving kudos and comments to let me know your opinion!

* * *

_“How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised_

_at anything which happens in life”_

_\- Marcus Aurelius_

* * *

Sergio was talking to the doctor, probably more excitedly than he should have, while she was taking Raquel’s vital parameters, her weight and asking questions about her morning sickness - that still hadn’t stopped - or cravings. Sergio was calmly explaining to the gynecologist that he wanted to know the gender and that they decided to keep it from Raquel, so he asked if doctor Smith could write it on a piece of paper and put it in a closed envelope. She obviously assured she could do that and smiled affectionately because she would never get old of feeling the dads’ happiness they emanated every time they talked about their babies; no matter how old they could be, dads always seemed like children in the playground in those moments, both if they were just teenagers or over forty. 

“I remind you the gel is a little cold, Ms. Murillo” doctor Smith announced “Ready?” 

Raquel nodded and Sergio took her hand in his, thrilled.

“You shouldn’t look at the screen if you don’t want to spoil your surprise… you know that, right?” he whispered in her ear.

“Sir, yes Sir!” Raquel joked and turned her head towards her fiancée, studying the lines of his nose, then his jaw and lips while the doctor looked for their baby in her womb. 

“What?” The man asked, noticing he was being observed. 

“Nothing! I was just wandering… If it’s a boy, I hope he’ll take your facial features”

“Oh, is that so?” Sergio grinned. 

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I want a copy of me if it’s a girl!”

“Oh boy!” he exclaimed, joking “We already have Paula that is like you in every possible aspect!”

“Am I hearing a complaint about the Murillo women in this house, now?” Raquel teased him and he was taken aback for a second, not knowing what to answer to that, when the doctor spoke again, gladly interrupting the couple’s exchange. 

“Well, well…” she mumbled and Sergio’s confused expression turned into one of pure terror. 

“What is it?” he asked, concerned “Is everything ok with the baby? Is it all right?”

Doctor Smith didn’t answer at first, too concentrated at scrutinizing the image on the screen. Sergio looked down at Raquel, whose expression was a mixture of her characteristic frown and confusion mixed with worry.

“Hold your breaths” doctor Smith announced, making a brief pause that seemed like an erafor the couple “Yes… yes, that’s it”

“What is it?” Raquel asked, impatient.

“You can look at the screen for now, Ms Murillo. I still haven’t looked for the gender, but I will warn you if it’s better you turn again” 

Raquel and Sergio moved their eyes to the screen at once and soon his gaze appeared only more confused, while Raquel released the breath she didn’t know she was holding with a slow “Oh my God…”

“Yes” the doctor smiled again “Mr. and Mrs. Marquina, it appears you are having twins”

“What… Are you sure?” Raquel, who already knew the answer, asked just to be sure and, before doctor Smith could confirm it, Sergio finally spoke.

“Well, _cariño_ , even _I_ can see two babies there. You know, it’s more common to have twins when you’re older because twins are…”

“I know what being pregnant with twins means, thanks Sergio” Raquel interrupted him with a grin and the man fell silent again. 

The blonde turned and looked at the doctor “Fraternal or identical?” 

“The latter. They share the same amniotic sac… Maybe that’s why we thought it was just one baby in the first scan” Doctor Smith patiently explained. 

“This is great!” Raquel announced, a tear of happiness finally made its way down her cheek.

“It is, _mi amor_!” Sergio said, hugging his wife and kissing her, before adding “But this means I’m not leaving you alone anymore, not even for a second!” 

“Sergio… I’m healthy and I’m fine!” the blonde scolded him. 

“You can say you are but… Your fiancée is right, Ms Murillo” the doctor affirmed, interrupting again the couple’s conversation “I’m not letting you lift anything, not even a cup of tea, and I’m suggesting you rest the more you can. Given your age…”

“Hey! I’m 41, it’s not like I’m _old_ ” Raquel protested, emphasizing the last word.

“That’s not what I was saying” doctor Smith corrected herself with a chuckle “Twin pregnancies, especially the monoamniotic ones, are considered high-risk pregnancies… so it’s likely you will not bring these babies to term and we’ll be forced to induce labor or to have a c-section, especially at your age”

Raquel shot a worried look to the gynecologist but Sergio, who was listening carefully, squeezed her hand to support her while Doctor Smith explained everything they had to know.

“But we don’t have to worry about it now. You are just eighteen weeks and two days along. At this moment, our goal is to keep these babies inside you the longer we can” she said in a soothing voice before adding with a big smile “Let’s discover the gender and hear the heartbeats now, shall we?”

Once the appointment was over and the doctor had suggested they had another scan in six weeks, Sergio walked her to the door while Raquel went straight to their room to take a shower in order to scrub the gel away.

It all still felt so unreal… for the both of them. Two babies, that was crazy. And Paula would be thrilled! Sergio would become even more overprotective, Alicia would tase her until she would finally freak out…

Soon after, Raquel’s trail of thoughts was interrupted when she heard the bathroom door opening and watched Sergio quickly taking all his clothes off before joining her into the shower, under the warm water. 

He placed his strong hands on her buttocks and pulled her closer, placing a soft kiss on her lips before squeezing her body in his arms. As she managed to free herself from the hug, she kissed him more fiercely until he suddenly stopped to look into her hazel eyes. 

“Raquel…” he whispered and the woman looked at him, frowning in confusion “Two… Two babies! You never cease to amaze me. You are Wonder Woman!”

“I really am not, Sergio” Raquel chuckled “Have you opened the envelope?”

“Nope. Not yet”

“Aren’t you curious?” 

“Oh, believe me, I am” he confessed “But I really wanted to open it together with Paula when she comes back home from school later”

“Oh” Raquel exclaimed, happy that her man was always so caring and sweet around her daughter “You already are a wonderful and caring dad”

“Am I?” he asked, incredulous, and she nodded. She was more than sure about that and she would never understand why Sergio still couldn’t see how good he was.

“I need you. Now!” Raquel confessed, not too ashamed.

“But… But won’t you three get tired? Or hurt?”

“My God, Sergio!” Raquel protested, her hands trailing down from his chest to his abs and finally reaching his length “Are you really going to refuse some wonderful pregnant sex in the shower with your horny and needy future wife?”

“No, I… I suppose I’m not” he sheepishly confessed and then Raquel pushed her body on his, kissing and touching her soon to be husband hungrily. Sergio didn’t try to refuse her touches anymore and finally gave in, welcoming the wonderful sensation of his incredibly horny wife kissing him.

* * *

When Paula came home from school later that afternoon, Sergio immediately picked her backpack and led the girl to his study to discover the gender together. Raquel agreed to wait for them on the couch, reading a book and occasionally chatting with her mother or Alicia. The latter had been in a way better mood lately and was currently smiling down at Nancy, peacefully sleeping in her arms. Raquel, looking at the redhead, thought her behavior wasn’t like her at all and she feared the always ticking bomb inside Alicia could explode again at any moment.

“You did a pretty good job, Alicia” Raquel confessed.

“Mh? What did you say?” the other woman replied, unconsciously revealing she was immersed in her own thoughts.

“Don’t tell me the cold-hearted and always vigilant Alicia Sierra has spaced out, just looking at her own daughter” the blonde woman jibed. 

“Don’t be ridiculous Raquel!” Alicia protested “Of course I didn’t!”

“Yeah, whatever” Raquel rolled her eyes “Anyway, I said I think you did a good job with Nancy”

“Well… Thank you?” Alicia said, looking down at her sleeping daughter again before sighing “Actually, I didn’t put much effort in it”

Raquel looked at her friend’s smile turn darker and sadder. She knew how little she cared about her child at the beginning, having lost her husband and being… well, being Alicia Sierra, but now she could see the redhead was really trying to be a good mother. Deep, deep down she could see the effort her former friend was putting in it. 

Raquel was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Alicia had turned her gaze at her again and was now scrutinizing her body.

“Speaking of which…” Alicia interrupted Raquel’s thoughts “we haven’t had a lot of chances to talk about your motherhood lately. How far along are you?”

“Eighteen weeks, confirmed this morning. But let me remind you that I already am a mother, Alicia”

The redhead ignored Raquel’s last words and focused on exclaiming “ _Madre mia!_ And you’ve become this huge in just a few days?” 

“Yeah, popped out in a few hours” Raquel announced, looking down at her belly and patting on it with a hand “But there’s a reason for that. I’ve already told _mamà,_ God knows if she remembers it, but I still hadn’t had the chance to tell you”

“And what should that be?”

“Me and Sergio are having twins. It’s not a baby, it’s two babies"

“Oh no! Two little Professors!” Alicia exclaimed dramatically, faking a fainting “How am I supposed to bear it?”

Raquel laughed when, surprisingly and suddenly, the redhead hugged her tightly with an arm, still having to support a sleeping Nancy with the other. She was starting to believe Alicia could have some sort of psychiatric disorder that could lead her from tender moments to craziness and vice versa. But, every time she went down that route, she remembered it was the restless Alicia Sierra she was thinking about and came back to the real world. 

“Do you know the genders?” Alicia suddenly asked, curious.

“I don’t. Sergio and Paula are discovering it right now. I finally decided I don’t want to know until they are born” Raquel confessed “But they are identical twins so.. two boys or two girls”

“Does this mean I can ask to Sergio or Paula?” 

“Of course you can!” Raquel smacked Alicia on her shoulder “But you cannot spoil me the surprise!”

“I certainly won’t” the redhead announced, indignant “I cannot wait to tease you with Paula for… months!”

“Just if you let her call you _auntie Alicia_ ”

“Ouch, you got me! I will think about it”

* * *

Paula and Sergio were in his study, opening the envelope with the gender together and reading it at the same time. They already had an agreement that stated they should keep it secret from Raquel, and also from grandma Marivì that could forget about the secret and involuntarily reveal it to her daughter. Paula was happy abut all these conditions: that could be hers and her dad’s little secret for a few months. 

Reading what the doctor had written, the little girl immediately jumped into Sergio arms squeaking and he held her tight while she almost screamed “Yay! I’m gonna be a big sister!” for about a dozen times. 

“Yes, Paulita, you are!” Sergio repeated once more. He would never get old of having his little, although always excited, girl around to play. He wondered for a second how come that his life had become suddenly so complete and how was it possible he’d never thought of a family before meeting Raquel. The lonely life he had had before the first heist suddenly felt just like a nightmare and the opportunity to be a dad not once, but thrice, overwhelmed Sergio with happiness; a tearmade its way down his left cheek.

Paula looked at him, preoccupied in seeing him cry.

“Dad? Why are you sad?” she naively asked.

“I’m not, baby. I’m very happy” he kneeled down and slowly caressed her brown soft hair.

“Why are you crying then?”

“Because I am too happy”

“I don’t understand…” the little girl frowned a little, just as her mother, before grinning and handing the piece of paper to Sergio asking him to read what was written on it again. 

“See? The doctor was nice and tried to write the gender in Spanish, but she wrote it wrong! That’s the plural she wrote!”

Sergio laughed, a soundly laugh that confused Paula even more. Of course she still didn’t know that the gynecologist hadn’t been the one wrong, _they_ all had been until this morning.

“What? Why are you laughing!?!” Paula asked “I know the word written like that means it’s plural, I learned it in second grade!”

“Yes, I know! And I’m sure that you know too, because you are a smart girl” Sergio replied with a smile “Now, why don’t you go and ask your mother to solve this mystery?” 

Paula jumped and let the piece of paper fall on the floor, before running out of the study towards the living room. 

Sergio looked at Paula exiting the room and shouted “Remember not to reveal our secret!” behind the little girl. He then made sure to put the piece of paper back in its envelope and to hide everything in a book he was certain Raquel would never read. When Sergio reached the living room and noticed Raquel’s laugh at Paula’s grammatical doubt - she’d been smart and hadn’t revealed the gender but just asked why the doctor had made a mistake - he couldn’t hide an affectionate smile. Oh boy, he loved his girls so much.


	8. Respect and Joy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning guys! 
> 
> Here I am, back with a new chapter. It's more like a transitional one, nothing special but I hope you can enjoy it anyway!
> 
> Let me know what you think with your kind kudos and comments, that are always super appreciated! :)

* * *

_“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, _

_ but of respect and joy in each other's life.  _

_ Rarely do members of one family  _

_ grow up under the same roof” _

_ \-  Richard Bach _

* * *

That morning Sergio came home with a lot of bags full of fresh food. Grocery shopping wasn’t really his favorite morning activity but he’d offered to go alone from now on, since Raquel wasn’t allowed to walk around too much.

He was surprised not to see Raquel around the kitchen impatiently waiting for him, but he ignored that and put the shopping bags on the counter before taking off his wet sweatshirt; the only thought in his mind was about the fact that he really hated the rainy season in the Caribbean. Then, he slowly put all the food in the fridge and, when he’d finished, he realized that his fiancée still hadn’t appeared there begging him to let her help him a little.

Sergio frowned and called her name, announcing he was back home, but nobody answered. He soon headed to their bedroom, supposing he would find her napping there, but their bed was empty and so was the couch, their bathroom and Paula’s room. 

Sergio couldn’t deny anymore to himself that he was starting to feel a little worried. Maybe even more than just a little. 

Then, an idea crossed his mind and he headed to Marivì’s bedroom to see if Raquel was there, sewing and chatting with her mother. 

When he knocked at the door, Marivì’s nurse answered with a low “Come in!” and so he did.

“Good morning Marivì, Celine…” he greeted the two women with a movement of his head and a smile, but noticed that Raquel strangely wasn’t there with them either.

“Marivì, have you seen your daughter?” he then asked.

“Laura? Haven’t seen her in a while” the old woman answered confused pausing the sewing and turning her gaze up at Sergio.

“No, no… Your eldest, Raquel” he patiently specified.

“Oh. Uhm… I don’t think so”

“Sorry Mr. Marquina, today’s not a very good day for Señora Marivì” nurse Celine explained, looking at the old woman with a sad smile “But Ms. Sierra told me she was going for a walk with little Nancy, I think maybe your wife joined them”

“Well, thank you but that’s… That’s not possible” Sergio affirmed, thinking about how reckless would have been if Raquel had gone for a walk with Alicia, not to think about the heavy rain that was now falling outside. She could certainly slip and fall and harm herself or the babies…

“Anyway, thank you Celine” he said again “See you later for lunch”

Sergio walked out of Marivì’s bedroom, now definitely worried and, even if he was now almost certain that Raquel could not be in the house at the moment, he tried calling her again a couple of times, just to be sure.

“Raquel? Where are you?!?” he finally shouted, exasperated.

“Sergio? I’m here!” a muffled voice finally answered, apparently coming from his study. He came closer and could hear movements from inside so he slowly opened the door.

“Raquel, here you are! You scared me! I was going crazy looking f…” Sergio immediately froze at the scene in front of him. Raquel had apparently found his gym mat and was sitting on the floor on top of it, her hair in a messy bun hold together with his favorite pencil - that he was sure he’d carefully left on the desk earlier.

“What on earth are you doing down there?” he asked.

Raquel took a few seconds before answering; she stayed seated there, crosslegged and with a wide smile brightening her face. 

“Sorry, _cariño_. I didn’t hear you were back. I had my headphones on” the blonde explained, pointing at the devices in her ears with a finger.

Sergio immediately approached her, still confused. 

“ _Cariño_ , you are sitting on the floor of my study, on my gymnastic mat and barefoot nonetheless. What were you doing?” he asked once more.

“Just some Yoga” she revealed.

“Yoga?” 

“Yes! Yoga, Sergio! You know, that ancient technique…” she mocked him.

“I know what Yoga is, but why were you practicing it? I thought you were supposed to rest and…”

“I’m fine, Sergio. _We_ are fine. Really” Raquel interrupted her husband-to-be, rubbing her belly and showing the best puppy eyes she could. But she wasn’t as good as Paula at it and she could tell Sergio was still a little bit angry, confused and concerned. And he certainly didn’t appear convinced by her words.

“I came here in your study because I knew that nobody would have bothered me for at least an hour and I followed an online Yoga class” she continued to explain, but looking at Sergio’s face she added “Pregnant Yoga class, _cariño_. We are safe and sound. Stop worrying, please…”

“Have you at least asked doctor Smith for permission?” the man asked but, looking at his fiancée’s guilty expression he kew he’d caught her in the act “You haven’t, have you?”

Raquel shook her head and lowered her gaze on her feet.

“But I read that it’s ok to move a little, Yoga is safe for pregnancy and… I was so bored, Sergio! I always am when you or Paula are not around! You went grocery shopping and Paula is at school… I was just bored!” she then complained.

“Ok, Raquel…” Sergio spoke again, sitting now directly in front of her on the mat and putting his hand on her thigh “I don’t know where you read that, probably on the internet. And you know that not everything you read online is true or accurate and… and doctor Smith expressly told us you should rest. Even assuming that Yoga is suggested while expecting, who says it’s good for twin pregnancies? I don’t wanna risk, Raquel! I’m worried because you are growing two tiny little humans inside you and I can’t even imagine how physically and emotionally draining that can be. I know you’ve always been so active and now you are bored but you can’t…”

Raquel looked at him, her so concerned and always rational man, and smiled before interrupting him with her most serious voice.

“You are being overprotective now, Sergio”

“No, I’m not. I’m just careful!”

“You are” Raquel teased again.

Sergio glanced at his wife-to-be with a look that could kill her before admitting “Well, maybe I am. Is it wrong?”

“No, it’s not” Raquel reassured him, caressing his cheek “It’s quite adorable, actually”

Sergio scoffed, smiling at the sight of his fiancée trying to pull him closer to kiss him. He’d just put his lips on hers when she held back. 

“Now, chop chop! Let’s go make some lunch. Stand up!” Raquel ordered and he obeyed “And, Sergio… help me get on my own two feet again because I don’t know if I still can manage it by myself”

The man laughed at his future wife’s childish behavior and then shot her a look that can only mean “I told you” but he helped Raquel as he’d been asked.

* * *

It was almost 10 pm and Sergio, Paula and, after innumerable prayers from Paula’s side, Alicia all found themself on the carpet in the living room playing Scrabble together. Alicia’s attempts in creating several words not really appropriate for a ten year old didn’t go unnoticed by Sergio, who had been forced to shot the redhead serious looks more than a couple of times.

Sergio had been winning for most of the game until, suddenly, he faked a temporary amnesia in order to let Paula win. Obviously Alicia immediately took advantage of his actions to tease him about them and also to win the game. She left soon after, leaving a very tired and pouting Paula behind with Sergio and excusing herself to go check if Nancy was still sleeping.

Sergio already knew the baby girl was still asleep, since they usually could hear her from the living room when she cried, and he was sure that that was only Alicia’s excuse to make a big exit; his thoughts had been confirmed later that evening when he found a post-it sticked to his bedroom door with an elegant phrase written on it. it made him smile; it said: _“Did you think I’d let her win? We all know I am the Scrabble champion of the house!”_

Anyway, after Alicia had gone to bed, Sergio and Paula put the pieces back in their box and the young girl protested a little before deciding she was too tired to proceed any further with her complaining. 

“Dad? Why didn’t _mamà_ stay with us to play tonight?” Paula suddenly asked, entering her bed, and Sergio played a second with the hair in her bangs before answering.

“She went to bed early tonight. I suppose _mamà_ was just tired” he lovingly explained. Truth was that Sergio could tell that the Yoga session had tired the shit out of Raquel, even if she’d never admit it out loud. It certainly hadn’t been a good idea. 

Paula sighed and closed her tired eyes before asking “Does mum love the twins more than me? Doesn’t she like playing with me anymore?”

“Oh, little monster…” Sergio reassured her leaving a kiss on her head and tucking her blanket “That’s… That’s not it, Paula. On the contrary, _mamà_ loves you very much”

“Then why didn’t she stay with us? I’ve seen her play with me when she was very tired, even after work, before…”

“Well, first of all she cannot stay on the carpet like us. The carpet is not very comfortable, don’t you think?” Sergio asked and, when Paula agreed with a movement of her head, he continued “ _Mamà_ is growing your siblings inside her, Paulita… she is emotionally unstable and physically drained and it’s going to get worse. That’s natural and normal but we have to help her, ok? Andthis doesn’t mean she loves you any less, do you understand? You know you can talk to me if something is bothering you, just like you did tonight”

Sergio smiled and Paula’s little face lit up with a smile too. 

“ _Papa_ , do you know which day tomorrow is?”

“Saturday, August the 17th?” Sergio asked, unsure of what the girl meant.

“No, silly!” she chuckled “Tomorrow is the day we throw a party for mum. To let her know how much we love her!”

Sergio laughed and happily accepted the idea, assuring that indeed they would have had the party the next day. Then he stood up and turned the light off. 

In the dark he heard little Paula say “I love you, Sergio” when he’d kissed her goodnight.

“I love you too, smart little monster” he proudly replied.

* * *

Poor Sergio woke up in the middle of the night, completely wet with sweat and really, really hot. He also couldn’t feel his right leg and he wondered what could have caused both these discomforts. He soon had his answer: even before opening his eyes Sergio perceived Raquel’s body completely pressed on his right side, her left arm under his neck and the other one on his chest. Raquel’s right leg was tangled with his legs and all her weight was literally on him. Normally he wouldn’t have done anything but now he was really starting to be uncomfortable. He couldn’t sleep this way, especially with Raquel’s now evident belly that was stopping the blood to go down his leg.

Sergio decided he had to do something. He gently moved a lock of her hair behind her ear, hoping she would wake up a little and move but she didn’t. She was still deeply asleep.

“Raquel, baby” he then whispered to slowly wake her up “I can’t sleep if you stay like this”

He heard Raquel’s breath become less slow and steady, sign she’d finally woken up.

“Mmh?” she mumbled.

“Can you please move a little? As much as I love being hugged by you, I cannot feel my leg anymore” Sergio affirmed.

“No, Sergio! Please…” she begged “It took me hours to find a position where I could sleep without waking up every thirty minutes!”

“Don’t you think it’s time to borrow that famous maternity pillow from Alicia?” he unsurely asked, looking down at Raquel who suddenly opened her eyes.

“Absolutely not. There’s no way I’d use that thing at just 22 weeks!” the blonde protested.

“22 weeks times two?” Sergio prompted.

“Aha, tell yourself that. You will never convince me. Ever”

“So, I am your maternity pillow now. Great. When I said I wanted to share everything with you during this pregnancy I didn’t mean to include also the lack of sleep and the discomfort” Sergio specified.

“You were wrong or you didn’t specify that well, apparently” Raquel stated as a matter of fact before frowning with a sigh.

“What?” Sergio asked, noticing her expression.

“Wait, Sergio. Stay still for a second. Don’t move. Don’t breathe” she ordered and then, after a while “Yeah, I’m sure” she affirmed.

“You are sure about what, Raquel?” Sergio asked, even more preoccupied.

“It appears you didn’t wake just me up to complain. I felt them moving, Sergio. Like really moving, they kicked me” Raquel said with a smile and she watched his eyes lit with happiness while he put his hand on her stomach, looking for some movement.

“I can’t feel anything”

“It was light. You’ll have your chance eventually” Raquel stated, before untangling from her fiancée and turning her back at him.

“Hey! What was that for?” he protested.

“For your continuous complaints about me hugging you!”

“You weren’t hugging me! You were squishing me and I couldn’t feel my leg anymore!”

“Still, you were complaining. I’m not listening to you” Raquel jibed “Goodnight Sergio”

He sighed, resigned, and hugged his future wife from behind. He couldn’t see her smile in the dark but he was more than sure that the last few moments had just made his girl very happy. Just after a few seconds Raquel broke the silence again.

“Are they boys or girls?” she tried to ask.

“I can’t believe you resisted less than two weeks!” Sergio mumbled laughing.

“So? Are you telling me or not?”

“Of course not. You’ll have your chance to know eventually” he mocked his fiancée, using her own words against her. He then wished her good night for the third time that evening.


	9. The Spiritual Experience of Living Every Minute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and good evening!  
> I'm back with a new chapter and I know it took some time but I think it was worth the wait (because of its content - ehm a little bit of Alicia? - and a certain reveal)... ;)
> 
> I hope you like it as much as I do and I thank you again for your kind comments and kudos to the previous chapters! 
> 
> Don't forget to let me know what you think of it, leaving a comment down here!
> 
> Enjoy! <3

* * *

_ “Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed.  _

_ Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute  _

_ with love, grace, and gratitude” _

_ -Denis Waitley _

* * *

Sergio silently sat on the farthest end of the couch, the only free spot at the moment, watching Raquel sleeping peacefully with her left hand hanging over the end of the sofa and looking at the book she was currently reading on the floor with matted pages. The way the blonde really didn’t care about books, which for him had always been like sacred objects, never ceased to amaze him. He picked the book up and fixed its pages, neatly putting it on the couch’s armrest. 

Sergio smiled affectionately noticing that Raquel had started reading the book he gave her some days before: _“The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair”_. He wondered how she managed to fall asleep while reading that kind of book that had kept him glued to its pages and, for this reason, he’d read in just a few hours. 

He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that didn’t notice his girl had lazily opened an eye and was glancing at him.

“What?” Raquel asked in a whisper.

Sergio hummed interrogatively, taken aback by her voice.

“You were staring at me”

“Oh, yes” he admitted shyly “I was wondering if you were enjoying the book”

“yeah, that book is great Sergio. Thank you for giving it to me”

“I didn’t see that coming, I have to admit. I thought you were finding it boring since…” Sergio stopped for a second and sighed, but smiled “Well, since you were sleeping”

Raquel immediately reached for the book Sergio had carefully piked up from the floor and she threw it to him with a loud “Shut up!”

The man soundly chuckled, knowing he’d managed to tease her. Raquel shot him a threatening look, but Sergio could see the corner of her mouth curving in a smile.

“And, Raquel” he continued “I thing I am a little jealous”

“Jealous?” the woman asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“Yes, I’m jealous of that thing that follows you everywhere and that you cuddle 24/7”

“Oh this?” Raquel asked, patting on her side and pointing at her, well technically Alicia’s but temporarily hers, pregnancy pillow “It’s like my own personal Bible, lately”

“Hey, do not compare a simple object to the Sacred Book!” Sergio reproached her.

“Oh, come on! You are not even religious!” 

“I know but someone in this house could be” he warned her, referring to Marivì’s nurse who wasknown to be very much religious.

“Boring” Raquel mumbled “Anyway, it’s all your fault. _You_ convinced Alicia to lend it to me”

** _3 weeks earlier..._ **

_“Surprise!” Paula, Marivì, Celine and Alicia screamed all together, making Raquel jump a little._

_The young girl immediately ran to her mother and hugged her, whispering a “We love you,_ mamà _”._

_Raquel smiled and looked around her. The kitchen was decorated with flowers and a delicious smell of pizza and chocolate was coming from the counter, sign that she didn’t have to think about making some dinner that night. Wide smiles were showing on the faces of her family and friends and she felt abashed for a moment._

_“What’s all this about? My birthday is in more than six months!” the blonde asked, looking at Sergio in particular._

_“We know,_ mamà _! But this is not for your birthday: it’s to let you know we all love you!”_

_Raquel whispered a “Thanks baby” to Paula, while the little one hugged her mother once more, and shot Sergio an interrogative look._

_“Are you behind all this?” Raquel asked but he shook his head and raised his hands in the air._

_“It’s all Paula’s idea, I swear” he revealed, raising his hands above his shoulders “We just helped her organize it”_

_“This is so sweet, little monkey” Raquel said, crouching down and kissing her daughter on the top of her head “Shall we eat now? We’re really hungry!”_

_Saying that Raquel didn’t see the party coming would have been an understatement and later, when she discovered that they had organized everything in less that a day, she was really amazed by the effort her family had put in that extremely appreciated surprise._

_The gifts that came later were something else she really hadn’t expected; Sergio had given her a book, claiming that that could keep Raquel occupied for some days and could help her get less bored and thus keep her from doing something else as stupid as the Yoga classes. Paula had put a lot of effort in a drawing, that was now hanging on the fridge, representing all of them as a family and Marivì had worked with Celine all day on a couple of little white t-shirts for the twins. Last but not least, Alicia had given her the maternity pillow that she’d used when she was expecting Nancy, but emphasizing the fact that she was just lending it to Raquel until she didn’t need it anymore._

_The blonde was really happy about the whole party and, taking advantage of the festive climate it created, tried to convince Paula to spill the beans about the gender of the babies. When the eleven years old made the gesture of zipping her mouth and glanced at Sergio, Raquel suspected he’d corrupted her daughter with sweets, or worse with money, in order to let her keep the secret even safer. Raquel smiled, proud of her daughter and thinking she just had one remaining chance to let someone talk: Alicia._

** _1 week later..._ **

_“Come in!” Alicia answered at the knock on her bedroom’s door and watched Raquel calmly approaching her._

_“Hello Alicia... Can I feed Nancy tonight?” the blonde woman asked and Alicia frowned for a second, thinking._

_“Suit yourself, Quel” the redhead conceded, giving her space on the bed and handing the baby and the bottle of warm milk to her friend._

_“I will take advantage of this rare moment and take a long shower. It’s been ages since I had some time all for myself” Alicia announced before standing up and picking the bathrobe from the closet._

_“Ali, wait!”_

_The redhead turned around, swinging her long hair that now fell disheveled on her shoulders. It’s been a while since Raquel had seen her friend with her characteristic tidy ponytail and impeccable make up on. She thought about the night they ate ice cream together in the kitchen; it was amazing how much both their lives had changed in the last few months and she wondered if they were ready to have a night out just the two of them, to honor the good old times before the twins came._

_“Raquel, talk now or I’m going to take that shower I’m sure I deserved” Alicia pushed the blonde to talk quickly._

_“Yeah, sorry, I was thinking” Raquel explained “I wonder if we could make a deal, Ali”_

_“Oh, I like deals… About what?”_

_Raquel didn’t have to answer; she just looked down at little Nancy, who was eating from her bottle, and then turned her gaze to the redhead again._

_“No way, Quel!” Alicia, understanding immediately what that deal was about, exclaimed “I made Sergio and Paula a promise and I’m going to keep it. I’m not telling you the gender of your babies!”_

_“Oh shit, Ali! You were my last hope! And you just said you love deals! Plus you never keep your promises!” Raquel complained._

_“I knew what I said earlier and I know how curious you are”_

_“Yeah, right… I know I made a mistake when I proposed Sergio to keep the secret and I should have known I couldn’t control my curiosity…”_

_“I know what you are trying to do, Murillo” Alicia warned her, her left index raised “You’re trying to make me feel sorry for you. I know you and this can work with Sergio, but it’s not going to work with me and you know it. All of this is your problem, not mine. You have to convince your fiancée or your daughter to tell you because my mouth is shut”_

_“At least I tried…” Raquel sighed, resigned._

_Alicia turned around again and quickly made her way out of the bedroom, before stopping at the doorframe and turning her head once more._

_“Don’t ask him, Quel. Let him tell you. I have faith in your skills”_

** _2 weeks later (now)..._ **

The small talk and cuddles that came after a good sex with his fiancée had always been Sergio’s favorite part of his relationship with Raquel. He’d discovered how good she was at it after their first night together, about three years earlier and during the first heist; cuddled on the leather couch in his fake apartment, she’d revealed how different he looked with and without glasses. The thought of her revelation still made him smile.

“Sergio? What are you thinking about?” Raquel asked, still drawing casual patterns on Sergio’s abs with her fingers.

“Superman and Clark Kent” he confessed, turning his head to look directly in her deep hazel eyes with a wide smile. 

Raquel chuckled “I never changed my mind about it; it’s still the same”

Sergio noticed her brows borrowing a little after her revelation and knew she was thinking about something that was bothering her. 

“A cent for your thoughts” he said.

“I was…” she suddenly stopped for a moment, wondering if it was fair to trick him like this “I was curious to know if you already had some ideas for our daughters’ names”

Sergio stopped breathing. His mind started to work furiously, his heart began pounding more rapidly and his eyes widened showing two very dilated pupils while he turned his gaze on the ceiling. Raquel could see his reaction and feel his heartbeat since her hand was still resting on his chest. 

In that same moment the blonde knew she’d guessed right.

“How…?” he finally managed to mumble “How the fuck did you do?”

Raquel didn’t answer, she just made her way to his cheek to gently pull his face closer.

“Tell me, did Paula tell you? Alicia? How?” 

Sergio was shocked, and also a little disappointed at the others because they didn’t manage to keep the secret. He’d really liked the idea of keeping it a secret until the end and he’d failed at it.

“Sergio, you told me” Raquel revealed with a smile.

“Of course I did not! How? When? Am I talking in my sleep?”

“ _Cariño_ , you don’t talk in your sleep. You just told me! About two minutes ago”

Sergio fell completely silent for a second, pondering her words and replaying their conversation before realizing and whispering a low “Oh, fuck”

“You… You just guessed?”

Raquel smiled even wider before nodding and Sergio put his hand on his eyes with a sigh. 

“I hate you Raquel!” he confessed “You made me ruin everything!” 

Seeing that he was almost on the verge of tears, Raquel hugged him tight and gently kissed his forehead. She was super happy to know now but, at the same time, she felt really bad for tricking him into this revelation. The blonde wondered if she should have ignored Alicia’s suggestion.

“It’s ok, _cariño_ ” she whispered “I wanted to know, I couldn’t take it anymore. I tricked you into telling me and I’m sorry”

“But…”

“No buts, Sergio” she didn’t let him finish the sentence “You didn’t ruin anything, I did. But it’s perfect this way. And I am super happy to know we will have two more girls running around, particularly two more Murillo future women”

“Don’t tell me! That’s the first thing I thought when I opened the envelope with Paula! I already live with two girls and three women, four if you consider Celine. There’s an incredible lack of testosterone in this house”

“Are you happy?” Raquel asked, suddenly concerned “Did you want them to be boys?”

“I… I’m super happy they are girls. It didn’t really matter”

“Sergio, you are allowed to be disappointed”

“But I just told you, I am not! I’m very happy and proud of my Murillo girls” he confessed and came closer to Raquel, kissed her passionately and caressed her belly; feeling the girls kick, he smiled “You two are super active in there tonight. Now, let your mother get some sleep or she will get cranky and will keep me awake too. We have an important thing to discuss tomorrow, because I want your _mamà_ to know the names I thought about for you”

Raquel’s eyes shined with tears of happiness, probably helped by her crazy hormones, and tried to hide them but Sergio noticed them anyway; he once again talked to the babies. 

“And, girls… Stop making your mum this emotional because she normally has enough mood swings to deal with, even without your help. Thanks and good night”

“Good night, Sergio. I love you” Raquel said before cuddling in his strong arms, inhaling his calming scent and closing her eyes. Sleep immediately enveloped the happy couple.


	10. The Truest Wisdom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers!
> 
> First of all I'm so, so, so sorry I kept you waiting for almost two weeks for this chapter! I had a little pause from writing because I didn't have any ideas crossing my mind. Maybe this is why this chapter is a little different from the others; thinking about my story I had a feeling I had left some themes a bit too much in the background (for example, the Ralicia relationship and the wedding preparations).  
> I hope this chapter satisfies you all anyway, even if it is a little shorter and different than usual. 
> 
> Secondly, I wanted to thank you all for your kind kudos and comments that are alway very appreciated and keep my mood up to continue this story. 
> 
> I'm done with the useless explanations now, I swear!
> 
> Enjoy this new chapter! :)

* * *

_ “A loving heart is the truest wisdom” _

_ \- Charles Dickens _

* * *

While slowly opening the door and stepping into her friend’s bedroom, Raquel was nervous. Like, really nervous. She could recall just two extreme situations in which she’d been this nervous and scared. The first one had been while she’d been sitting into the Police Chief’s office, risking the expulsion from the Police Academy; she was 20 and next to her at the time was the same Alicia Sierra, who’d - God knows how - managed to convince the blonde to enter together inside the boys’ common room to have a party with them: needless to say, they had been caught and punished. But, fortunately, they had avoided the expulsion.

The second time she’d been this nervous had been when she took the command inside the Bank of Spain: Palermo was complaining in an angry way, Sergio wasn’t Sergio at the time but the Professor in the middle of a dangerous heist, and she herself was under pressure and already suspecting she was with child. Well, with children they later discovered. 

Raquel, opening the door, soon met Alicia’s brown eyes, accompanied by the redhead’s interrogative look. She noticed Alicia laying in her king sized bed, now shifting to raise on her elbow; the book she was reading was resting face down on the neat mattress. 

Raquel took a few steps closer to her friend and smiled politely. 

“You’re liking the book, I see”

“It’s really nothing special. The Police are too superficial and naive: I already know who killed the girl”

“Typical of you to say that” Raquel commented “You are welcome, anyway”

“Hey! I should thank the Professor who gave it to you, not you”

“Maybe, but _I_ am lending it to you”

Raquel emphasized the subject on purpose. Teasing each other had always been their favorite activity since they were practically teenagers; it simply was how their relationship, and later their friendship and then rivalry, had always worked. The fox and the eagle: the little, apparently peaceful but smart animal and the fearful and quick bird.

Without even being asked, Raquel took the liberty to sit down on the rocking chair in Alicia’s room, next to Nancy’s crib - who was peacefully asleep at the moment.

“So, Murillo” the redhead started “You never come into this bedroom unless you need something or you’re being sentimental. Which one of them is this time? Why are you here? I’’d prefer the former, thanks”

“Both I guess” Raquel confesses, slowly lowering her gaze and steadying her breathing.

“Something suggests to me that I’m not gonna like what you are about to say”

“No, you are definitely not going to like it” 

“Then spit it out” Alicia pressed the blonde and moved a hand gracefully “The sooner the better”

“It’s not this simple, Ali” Raquel warned her friend “You are here with us - with my family - for a reason, you know? And the reason is… well, the reason is me: I insisted on having you here…”

“Oh no! Not one of your speeches! Tell me what you need and go away!” the redhead interrupted Raquel to complain, dramatical as always.

“I’ll make it brief, I promise” Raquel assured “As I was saying, I insisted on having you here. Sergio didn’t want to take you with us; he believed we were taking a risk we couldn’t - and still can’t - afford.”

“I am wondering why” Alicia, interrupting the blonde’s speech again, said sarcastically.

“I knew he was right, but… you were my friend. You _are_ my friend, after all. You are my annoying, moody, insufferable friend and I think even Sergio has learned to appreciate you more lately. And maybe that’s why, when we think and talk about our wedding, your name always comes up”

“Why? Even the trees in the forest near here know that I’m not coming to your wedding”

“And here is where you are wrong” Raquel said. That wasn’t a question or a doubt, it was a statement. 

“No, no, no” Alicia refused, standing up from the bed and starting to pace the bedroom with big steps. She suddenly stopped and pointed her perfectly polished red nail to her own chest declaring “I am not coming”

“Yes, you are” the bond insisted “Because the wedding will be right here. Sergio wants a quiet place, I want the beach and my mother will be better if she stays in a familiar place”

“I’m leaving the house before the wedding, then” Alicia stated. 

Raquel could see her friend becoming more anxious every second and couldn’t figure out if she was happy about that behavior or disappointed.

“When will this notorious wedding be?” the redhead then asked.

“Alicia, calm down. We still don’t know that, but we’re certainly going to have the twins and then set the official date” Raquel admitted and took a deep breath, preparing for the worst “What I’m going to ask you… will probably shock you. You can refuse, of course, but I just want you to know that I’ll be very disappointed and hurt if so”

“I say no, then! Whatever it is. It’s as simple as that. No”

“I’m gonna ask you anyway, I’m not letting you run away from this. Plus, it’ll be fun seeing the blood leave your face”

Raquel grinned and then raised two fingers in the air: they were holding the key of the bedroom’s door. That could only mean she’d locked them inside and trapped Alicia into this, forcing her to think about the proposal and give a proper answer. 

The redhead closed her eyes and pursed her lips in a thin, threatening line; she stopped breathing for a few seconds while Raquel took a pencil from her sweatpants’ pocket and started to comb her dark blonde hair in her characteristic messy bun. That meant only one thing, and Alicia kew it better than anyone - maybe even better than the Professor himself: _negotiation_.

“Will you be happy to be my maid of honor?” Raquel suddenly asked.

* * *

_“Will you be happy to be my maid of honor?”_

Alicia couldn’t believe those words had just left Raquel’s mouth. How dare she say something like that? It was unbelievable, a joke, a trap. Her, a maid of honor? No way! No way that was going to happen in this, or any other for what matters, world!

She must have stayed silent for a little too long because Raquel was now looking at her impatiently. She was never impatient in a negotiation, especially not with Alicia, so the redhead realized it was the moment to react. 

“I… I…” she couldn’t even formulate a complete sentence “ _Joder_ , Raquel! How the fuck do you do this?”

“Do what?” 

“This! You trap me into a situation and then ask me something like that, in a way I can’t refuse!”

“Actually you _can_ say no, but…”

“You will be disappointed and hurt. I know, you already said that!” Alicia interrupted her, quoting what the blonde had said a little earlier in the conversation.

“So?” Raquel asked “What’s your answer?”

Alicia stepped closer to Raquel and threateningly looked down at her. She put her fists on her hips and whispered “At least tell me the color of the dress doesn’t have to be pink”.

“The color is red”

“Red?2 Alicia asked to be sure she’d heard well but, when the future bride nodded, she scoffed“Red! Red’s even worse! Do you have the slightest idea about how bad a red dress on a redhead looks?”

“We will choose a shade of red that will look good on you, don’t worry”

“Don’t worry? Don’t worry!?! That’s a good one!” Alicia scoffed again and let out a nervous laugh “First, you dare to propose to me to be your bridesmaid. _To me!_ Second, you choose a terrible color for the flowers and theme! My dress will be blue or nothing”

“Alicia, please…”

“Do not ‘Alicia please’ me, Raquel” the redhead immediately stopped her “This is my final decision: it’s blue or nothing”

“Ok! Fine!” Raquel conceded, resigned “But I’ll have to convince Sergio about it…”

Alicia huffed, annoyed. She was sure Sergio would do anything in order to please Raquel, especially for her wedding. He was always so sweet and cheesy with his fiancée it almost made her sick.

“Then who’s Sergio’s best man?” she then asked, curious.

Raquel shot a ‘you know who’ look to Alicia, who - again - soundly let to a nervous laugh.

“I cannot believe it! Palermo! _Palermo_ is never going to agree to this. Does he know it?”

“Sergio is writing to him right now, I believe. I have to say I’m not very happy about his choice. But it is his choice and if he’s happy, then I’m happy too” 

“Yeah, I figured” Alicia confessed “Now, will you open the door of my own bedroom or should I break it down?”

“I don’t know, let me think… did you agree to be my maid of honor?” Raquel teased.

“Stop it, Murillo! I already told you!”

“I want to hear it out loud, sorry”

“I… I… _Yes_! I’m going to be your maid of honor at yours and Sergio’s wedding!”

Raquel immediately jumped on her feet and quickly approached her friend, squeezing her in a tight hug. The redhead didn’t hug her back but Raquel couldn’t care less at this point. Alicia was going to be her maid of honor and the conversation about it didn’t go as badly as she’d imagined earlier.

“I can’t believe those words just left my mouth” the redhead muttered in a whisper “Murillo, tell me again... why am I still here and you are not rotting in a prison cell in Soto del Real with your fiancee in Cadiz?”

Raquel didn’t answer, she just approached the door and inserted the key into the keyhole, then turned it with a click; she left Alicia staring at her back in a mixture of frustration and curiosity. When Raquel exited the bedroom, she looked inside - the rest of the body already behind the half closed door - and mouthed a “Because deep down you love us”. 

Shutting the door behind her, Raquel then added with a louder tone “And remember that nothing is fully yours in this house!” clearly referring to her right to lock Alicia in whatever room she decided and when she wanted.

* * *

“So? What did Alicia say?” Sergio asked to his future wife later that afternoon.

“Mmh” Raquel answered in a vague way.

"Have you finally found the courage to ask Alicia to be your maid of honor?” the man specified, grinning.

“Oh that. Actually yes, I have”

“And...?”

“And… she agreed” Raquel proudly revealed.

“Wait, wait… Seriously?” Sergio asked, mistrustful "Are you serious?"

“Couldn’t be more serious” the blonde declared “Did you write to Palermo?”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous, I wrote to him already three weeks ago! It’s you who couldn’t find the courage to ask your friend, not me”

“But… I thought we decided together that the last day to ask them would have been today” Raquel said, and shifted on her seat to look at him properly.

“Yes, we definitely decided that. But I figured, since I already knew who I wanted to ask to, it was better to do it immediately. Plus, Alicia is here while Palermo is in Mexico. The letter would take a while and so the answer…”

“Have you already received his answer?”

“I still haven’t. But I’m sure it’s a matter of days” Sergio said, confident.

Little did Sergio, or Raquel, know that Palermo had received the letter indeed; only that, after having read the name on the envelope - his own city name - written in a strange but at the same time so familiar calligraphy, the man had understood who that was from and he’d looked for the closest lighter to set it on fire. The known, creamy colored paper of the letter, together with the familiar blue ink on it, had been reduced to ashes a few seconds later. There was no way that the famous _Profesor_ was going to include him again in one of his plans, especially if Andrés hadn’t planned it whit him.


	11. Other People's Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I am a disaster. I discovered today that I haven't posted for almost 20 days and you can't tell how sorry I am for it. I know it shouldn't be an excuse but I wasn't satisfied by the way I wrote the last chapter at all. I had some days without knowing how to continue the story and I didn't know if you were still interested in it. 
> 
> Anyways, here I am with a new chapter now!
> 
> I hope you like it and you could spend a few minutes in reading it. And remember that your comments and kudos are really valuable to me and sometimes they motivate me to continue to write! I'd like to know what you think of this new chapter, especially after the writer's block that I had. :)
> 
> Now, enjoy this new chapter! enjoy your reading! <3

* * *

_“It’s quiet now. So quiet that_

_can almost hear other people’s dreams”_

_\- Gayle Forman_

* * *

It was a warm and quiet evening, around 6.30 pm, and Raquel and Alicia were walking together towards their destination, slowly crossing the beaches around the Murillo-Marquina home. They were both headed to the nearest village where they had a reservation in a local little restaurant waiting for them. 

When the idea of a quick girls’ night out had crossed Raquel’s mind a few days prior, it all seemed so easy to arrange; Alicia should have trusted Sergio with her daughter and they would have left little Nancy and Paula with the man for a few hours without many problems.

But real life had taught Raquel that Sergio wasn’t this happy and confident to be alone with the two little girls - probably because he still perceived himself as a not so skilled dad - and also he’d been even more doubtfulin letting his fiancée walk - or better, _waddle_ as he rightfully pointed out - to the restaurant in her state. Sergio had complained so much about that infamous night’s arrangements that Raquel had been forced to write him a post-it saying goodbye and to leave herown home from the back entrance in order not to hear his protests once again. 

The powerful but safe walkie-talkies that the couple had bought for Paula when she started coming back home from school just with her friends had been activated and connected for the occasion, to use in case of emergencies, and then put one on Sergio’s bedside table and one inside Raquel’s purse.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m really lucky to have my own big bedroom” Alicia commented on their way to the restaurant and, when the blonde gave her an interrogative look, she added “Is Sergio always this overprotective? Like 24/7?”

“Uh-hm… Most of the time, yes”

“I’m _really_ lucky, then. God, as if I didn’t know what trying to restrain Raquel Murillo from doing what she wants feels. I wonder how he’s still alive!”

Alicia sincerely chuckled. Raquel uncharacteristically stayed silent. The latter was too immersed in thinking about how it was possible that she was there, walking on a Caribbean beach, under a wonderful sunset, with Alicia - her former best friend and then best rival, now apparently her future maid of honor - talking and laughing as nothing ever happened between them. 

“So?” Alicia asked again but she soon realized she’d been talking to the wind for the last few minutes “I said that I know now that the Professor wasn’t wrong when he said it would have taken us eons to get to the restaurant with your… How did he call it?”

“Waddle” Raquel helped the redhead in finding the right word.

“Whatever that is” Alicia commented after hearing the term “He wasn’t wrong, anyways”

“He wasn’t, indeed. You know what? He usually isn’t” the blonde admitted with a shy smile, looking slightly defeated.

Alicia, hearing Raquel’s acknowledgment, chuckled once more. 

They continued walking side by side for just a while, but to Raquel it seemed like an eternity. Her sore back and feet were already starting to hurt; she thought that maybe Sergio hadn’t only been right on saying they were going to take 40 minutes instead of 15 to get to the restaurant, but he’d been right in general. It had not been a great idea. 

They arrived at the restaurant in silence and very hungry. Alicia ordered a stuffed _Bokit_ for herself while Raquel decided to give a chance to the ting that reminded her of home the most: the local _Pelau_ , that resembled a sort of paella and was very popular in some of the Caribbean Islands. Seeing that Raquel wasn’t prone to drink even a sip of wine, Alicia gave up in convincing her that a glass would not harm her or the babies and decided to drink water instead. 

“Raquel, you are very silent. It’s not like you” the redhead commented at some point while they were waiting for their order. 

“I… I know, I’m sorry. I was thinking”

“Thinking about what?”

“Many things” Raquel said, not going too much into the details.

“Now you are doing it again” Alicia protested “Listen, I get it. If it’s not the right night, if you are not in the mood to talk… it’s fine”

“Don’t” Raquel stopped her, immediately understanding what the redhead was referring to “Don’t blame the hormones for my mood. It’s just… this. It is all so strange and… I cannot find the words, I’m sorry”

“The words for what, Raquel? What are you talking about?” Alicia asked, not worried but a little concerned if she thought about where that conversation could go.

“This. Everything. You were my best friend and then… then you pointed a gun at Sergio. You painted a gun at my future husband! Now you live with us, with my family, and you are a mother. A _mother_ , Ali! You!” Raquel scoffed, still incredulous “then I asked you to be my maid of honor at my wedding and you surprisingly accepted… I mean, you’ve always hated weddings! I just cannot understand nor express the mixture of confusion and happiness that I’m feeling right now”

“Don’t tell me. I don’t know what happened to the real Alicia Sierra” the redhead admitted, shrugging “I really don’t know what’s gotten into me”

“A daughter happened, that’s what happened to you”

“Well, maybe… but it’s not just that. I think. I think I found a place where I feel safe and loved again. After Germàn…”

“Uh-mh. Do you want to talk about it?” Raquel kindly proposed but, before the other woman could answer, the waitress brought the their dishes. Both women smiled happily at knowing that they finally had a hot dish in front of them. Unfortunately wine wasn’t in the picture but it didn’t really matter.

“Actually” Alicia talked again, her mouth full of food after having bitten her _Bokit_ “I don’t. Why don’t you tell me something? For example, have you already discovered the gender of the twins?”

“Yes, I have” Raquel revealed and showed a wide grin

“It’s been fun” she then admitted, recognizing Alicia’s look as the one she used to use when she wanted to know if their plans had worked.

“Now tell me, I want to know everything. How have you convinced Sergio Marquina, the infamous _Profesor_ , to spill the gender of your children out?”

“I haven’t” and so the blonde recalled the night she discovered they were having two baby girls and how she tricked Sergio into telling her. Thinking about it now, she was really happy the babies were girls because she didn’t know if she could deal with two more little professors around; Sergio was already trained in dealing with a few Murillo women, on the other hand. He would be just fine. 

This way - talking about various more or less serious topics - Alicia and Raquel spent a nice and quiet night together, until the latter started feeling a tad tired and they decided to ask for the bill before starting the walk back home. 

“Alicia” Raquel stopped her friend and pointed her finger at the sand under their feet “I was thinking… Why don’t we sit here for a while? It’s a warm night, I’d like to enjoy it a little more”

“It’s fine by me. But can you come back on your feet afterwards?” Alicia mocked the pregnant woman and laughed at her own words.

“Of course!” the blonde assured but then added “I can always call for backups with my Walkie-Talkie you know”

And so they sat. What Raquel hadn’t expected was the night to shift so drastically afterwards: probably because the quiet of the sea’s noise inspired her or because she was too tired, Alicia had started expressing how grateful she was that Raquel and Sergio had given her a chance to live with all of them for a while. In her own way - and that means without saying it directly nor giving Raquel a hug - she thanked the blonde and showed her gratitude also for the honor she’d been given for the wedding day.

Once they had finished their sentimental talks, Raquel decided it was time to call Sergio who immediately picked her call up without hesitation. He was by her side in the matter of a few minutes not only helping her up, but also gently putting his arms under her shoulders and legs and lifting her up to carry her home. All of it just because the witch that Alicia was complained about how slowly Raquel was walking. On their way back, Sergio explained that he’d left Paula and Nancy asleep on the couch at home and under the caring eye of nurse Celine - that had always been his backup plan from the beginning; he then recounted his evening’s activities with the girls and praised Alicia a couple of times for her beautiful and quiet little girl. To everyone’s surprise, she didn’t refuse the compliments.

When at home they discovered that Nancy was cradled into Celine’s arms, just awake, and so Alicia took her baby and wished a goodnight to everybody before disappearing into her bedroom.

Raquel taught about letting Paula sleep on the couch for tonight since she was extremely tired because of the walk and the little girl seemed sound asleep; waking her up would have meant having troubles in letting her fall asleep again and she really didn’t have the energies to fight her daughter about it. Interrupting her thoughts, Sergio assured he could take care of Paula while Raquel prepared for the night and so they did. 

Only more than half an hour later the man was able to go to sleep himself. He slowly entered the bedroom, careful not to make much noise since he supposed that Raquel would already be asleep; But looking at the bed he discovered there was no trace of the blonde there. So Sergio knocked to the bathroom door and entered just to find his fiancée with sexy red lingerie on and clearly ready for a good session. Shocked, the man approached Raquel and kissed her passionately but, when her hands found their way towards his jeans’ button and zip, he stepped back. 

Raquel frowned in confusion.

“Not that I’m complaining, my dear, but I thought you were tired after your long day” Sergio explained, as if he was trying to justify his behavior “Plus, we have a baby names discussion that is waiting for us since last week”

“And why don’t we discuss it while actually doing something interesting? Because you are right, I am tired… But also _very_ horny” Raquel teased him verbally while her hand found his cock. 

“We can’t… Because…” the man exhaled with pleasure “I don’t want our daughters to be named while we are doing sex. I mean, remember what happened with _Plan Paris_? And I’d like to be sure to have a minor-suitable story to tell them when they’ll ask me the origin of their names when they are older”

Raquel smiled but was still looking at Sergio with a strange look, as if she was slightly confused by the situation. 

“Children are curious, you know. Especially Murillo’s children” he specified.

“I know, Sergio” Raquel assured and then gave up “Let’s talk about names then. But you’ll guarantee me something more adult-suitable for later”

“Sure, my dear”

Raquel - defeated but still hopeful - closed Sergio’s pants again and headed towards their bed, where she struggled to find a comfortable position for a while before laying on her side, tucked into Alicia’s maternity pillow.

“So, names” she prompted “You were supposed to choose them from the beginning, so I suppose you can start”

“What makes you think that I have something in mind?”

“The fact that you asked me to talk about names makes me _sure_ you already have some ideas” Raquel revealed, confident “And I’m also pretty sure you like them very much, my dear _Profesor_ ”

“And indeed you are right, my beautiful _Inspectora_ ” Sergio admitted. 

He then settled comfortably on his side of the bed - the closest to the door because he needed to be able to run away easily if something happened. Facing his fiancée and moving his hand on herswollen belly, stroking her soft skin gently, he started talking to his girls.

“So, babies, I had some names in mind for you but none of them quite got my full attention” he started explaining “I couldn’t point out why until I found the problem. I wanted to honor this place where hopefully you will be born but I really didn’t like the places’ names here”

“Sergio” Raquel immediately interrupted him and he turned his gaze up to her curiously “Don’t tell me you thought we would name them after cities”

“I hope your mother relaxes because she’s already angry with me for something she hasn’t even heard yet” Sergio continued without even bothering to answer her, his lips curving slightly up after Raquel’s interruption.

“That’s how I decided to look for city names in America. I thought about Aurora, Chelsea, Brooklyn…” he stopped and waited for a second, waiting for God knows what, then continued talking “Adelaide? Georgia?”

After waiting for a little bit more, he still hadn’t gotten a sign or an answer back.

“Well, well… this leaves the two names I like the most. Madison and Charlotte. Two wonderful cities to name two even more beautiful girls after” he announced his favorite names and, as soon as he did, Raquel understood what he was waiting for when he’d stopped talking earlier. The girls started moving around and kicking like crazy. The woman smiled widely at this reaction.

“Great! I knew you two were going to like them” Sergio declared, grinning satisfied and relieved “Now, what does your mother think?”

“Their mother thinks they are both wonderful names” Raquel said and shifted to come closer to Sergio in order to kiss him “She likes them. You did a great job, dad”

“Thank you. Come on now, let’s…”

“Hush” Raquel interrupted him putting a finger on his lips “Do you like Marivì and Ines as their second names?”

“Do you want to name them after their grandmothers?” the man asked with wonder in his big brown eyes.

“I thought it would be a good idea. Plus, I like the name Ines very much”

“Marivì for Charlotte and Ines for Madison?”

“Yeah Madison Marivì Marquina Murillo doesn’t sound very good to me. Too many Ms”

“Too many Ms, right” Sergio chuckled at his future wife’s silliness “So… Charlotte Marivì and Madison Ines. I can’t believe we really agreed on the names this easily”

“No kidding! I was prepared for a hard fight!”

“Is that so? And where is your bun? I can’t see it” Sergio asked, gently moving his fingers in Raquel’s golden-brown hair and pulling her closer.

“Only because I couldn’t find a pencil near me it doesn’t mean I wasn’t in fight-mode” 

“Yeah, I know. You always are, my love” Sergio whispered on her lips and she could see his eyes brightening as he smiled “But I like it, you keep me on my toes”

“You bet I am” Raquel declared and she soon resumed what she was going to do earlier in the bathroom but, this time, her man didn’t pull back with some stupid baby names ideas. Actually, if she was being frank, she could tell Sergio enjoyed what she did after very much form the payback he gave her later. 


End file.
